League-Leading Volleyball Hosts Shockers, Bears
10/10/2007 12:00:00 PM | Volleyball
This Weekend
First place Creighton (13-5, 7-0 MVC) hosts a pair of teams currently tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference.
On Friday, Wichita State (14-4, 6-1 MVC) arrives in Omaha for a 7 pm match.
One night later, Missouri State (17-3, 6-1 MVC) comes to town for another 7 pm match.
The Omaha Civic Auditorium (9,377) will host both matches.
Radio Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend can be heard on KVSS (88.9 FM), and will be streamed live for free on-line at http://ww.kvss.com and http://www.gocreighton.com. Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will call the action.
Video Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend match will be video webcast and can be seen at www.gocreighton.com.
Fans can sign up to buy either match for $4.95 each or a season package of all of CU's remaining home matches for $34.95 by clicking on the “Sign Up” graphic below the video box on the top right of the page.
Live Stats Information
Both matches this weekend will have live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 13-5 through 18 matches this season, including six straight wins. The Jays are also a perfect 7-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
The Bluejays have won nine of 10 matches since losing star MB Jessica Houts (3.35 kpg., 1.65 bpg.) to a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 11.
Preseason all-MVC MB Kelly Goc leads the offense with 3.85 kills per game while also hitting .348.
Two other newcomers have made an immediate impact. Freshman Allie Oelke has a team-best 22 aces and ranks second with 3.26 kills per game, while junior libero Bianca Rivera ranks second in the MVC with 5.97 digs per game.
Two-time MVC assist champ Korie Lebeda sets the offense and averages 11.92 apg.
Creighton is averaging 15.60 kills, 1.50 aces, 18.74 digs and 2.69 blocks per game while hitting .206 as a club.
Scouting Wichita State
Wichita State has won seven straight to improve to 14-4 on the fall. The Shockers are tied for second in the MVC with 6-1 conference record.
Winthrop transfer Emily Stockman leads the Shockers with 4.26 kills per game and her 3.53 digs per game is second on the squad. Fellow OH Sara Lungren averages 3.16 kills per game and was named MVC Player of the Year in 2006.
All-Valley setter Abby Harsh averages 12.53 assists per game and had a school-record 75 helpers last Friday in a win at Missouri State.
As a team, Wichita State averages 15.65 kills, 18.55 digs, 2.51 blocks and 1.72 aces per game while hitting a league-best .255.
Scouting Missouri State
Missouri State has won 12 of its last 13 matches and is 17-3 overall, including a 6-1 mark in Missouri Valley Conference action.
The Bears are led by all-Valley setter Katelyn Panzau, who averages 11.85 assists, 2.28 digs, 1.24 kills and 0.75 blocks per game. Panzau, however, sprained her ankle last Friday and is being labeled as questionable for this weekend.
Three MSU players average more than three kills per game, Jamie Adams (3.72), Sara Thomas (3.27) and Sara Staubach (3.11) Thomas also shares the team lead with 1.17 blocks per game while also ranking second on the team with 3.41 digs per game.
As a team, Missouri State averages 15.89 kills, 1.49 aces, 18.54 digs and 2.94 blocks per game while hitting .240 as a team.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns an 80-58 record in her fifth season with the Bluejays. She became the program's all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25 with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin.
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 helped by associate head coach Paul Giesselmann and assistant coaches Angie Oxley Behrens and Steve Bymers.
Melissa Stokes is in her 12th season at Missouri State, where she owns a 262-117 record. She led MSU to the NCAA Tournament in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Jeni Jones and Greg Brown are assistant coaches. Two-time MVC Coach of the Year Chris Lamb is in his eighth season with Wichita State. Lamb owns a 150-82 record, all with the Shockers, and led WSU to the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. He is assisted by his wife, Shannon Lamb, and Jeff Sanders.
Series History vs. Wichita State
Creighton and Wichita State have split 28 all-time meetings. The Bluejays are 8-5 at home in those contests, including 3-2 wins in both 2003 and 2004. In fact, each of CU's last three wins over the Shockers have been five-game matches.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-6 vs. Wichita State and Chris Lamb, while Lamb is 8-7 vs. Creighton all-time.
Series History vs. Missouri State
Missouri State owns a 24-3 lead in the all-time series with Creighton, including 18 consecutive wins. The Bears are 11-2 in Omaha all-time.
Creighton has not beaten the Bears since Oct. 3, 1998 in Omaha.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-8 all-time vs. MSU and Melissa Stokes, while Stokes is 20-3 in her career vs. the Bluejays.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton swept Evansville (30-21,30-27, 30-17) and Southern Illinois (30-19, 30-21, 30-24) last weekend, improving to 7-0 in the MVC.
Kelly Goc led Creighton with 35 kills and hit .388 in the six games, while Lauren Bloemke averaged 4.50 kills and hit .469 in the two victories. Junior Korie Lebeda set the Jays to the tune of 18.83 kills per game.
New Facility on the Way
On Tuesday, October 16th, Creighton will break ground for a new athletics center, located just north of Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium.
The Ryan Athletics Center and D. J. Sokol Arena, a 46,000 square-foot facility, will house a gymnasium seating 2,500-3,000, women's basketball and volleyball coaches' offices, locker rooms, ticket offices, athletic training and meeting rooms, media workrooms and much more.
The arena is also expected to be used for other campus and community events including campus assemblies, coaching camps/clinics, concerts, speakers, and high school graduations.
On A Roll
Senior Kelly Goc has stepped up her game since teammate Jessica Houts was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Goc owns 11 straight matches with 10 or more kills. She has hit .206 or better in each match in that time frame, including a .387 or better hitting percentage five times. She has had four or more kills in 12 of Creighton's last 13 games over the past two weekends.
On the season, Goc leads the Bluejays with 212 kills, 53 blocks and a .348 attack percentage.
Red Hot Weekend
Omaha will be the site of three of the hottest teams in the MVC this weekend.
Creighton is off to its best-ever start in league play at 7-0 and has won six straight matches. CU has won 18 of its last 19 games played.
Wichita State has won seven straight matches, all but one by sweep, and is 6-1 in MVC play.
Missouri State has won 12 of its last 13 matches, with the only loss in that span coming on Friday to Wichita State.
Creighton, Missouri State and Wichita State are a combined 11-0 in conference road matches this season.
Creighton Off To Best MVC Start Ever
Creighton has record its best opening in MVC play ever at 7-0, two wins more than what was done last season. All three previous times CU has started 2-0 or better in The Valley, its first league loss came to Northern Iowa. Creighton won't face UNI again until Oct. 20th, its 11th match of the Valley campaign.
Start Year First MVC Loss
7-0 2007 ? ? ?
5-0 2006 Northern Iowa, 3-2
3-0 2003 at #10 Northern Iowa, 3-1
2-0 1997 at Northern Iowa, 3-0
What's Going To Give?
Creighton is off to its best-ever MVC start at 7-0, while Friday's opponent Wichita State owns an even more impressive streak. The Shockers have won 23 consecutive road matches in MVC play dating to a five-game loss at Creighton on Oct. 23, 2004.
In the last four years, Wichita State owns just five losses in regular-season league play in 61 matches. Two of those losses have been against Creighton, both in five games.
Win Streak Reaches Six
Creighton has won six straight matches, one shy of the school record set during the 2004 season.
In regular-season MVC play, Creighton has won nine straight contests, with seven of those coming away from home. The nine straight regular-season MVC wins matches the mark first accomplished Nov. 4, 2005-Sept. 30, 2006.
Before Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the program's previous best had been five straight overall wins from Sept. 24-Oct. 2, 1999 and six straight league wins from Sept. 21-Oct. 12, 2001.
Most Consecutive Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
6 Sept. 21, 2007-Present ? ? ?
5 Sept. 24-Oct. 2, 1999 at Missouri State, 3-0
5 Nov. 4-19, 2005 at Northern Iowa, 3-0
5 Aug. 25-Sept. 2, 2006 Iowa, 3-2
5 Sept. 9-16, 2006 at South Dakota State, 1-3
Some Star Setters
This weekend will boast three of the Midwest's best setters at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. Korie Lebeda (CU), Abby Harsh (WSU) and Katelyn Panzau (MSU) all earned all-Valley first-team accolades last season and are likely to repeat those honors this fall.
Stat Lebeda Harsh Panzau
Asts. Per Game 11.92 12.53 11.85
Dig Per Game 2.08 2.56 2.28
Block Per Game 0.69 0.32 0.75
Kill Per Game 1.16 0.51 1.24
Hitting Pct. .313 .224 .285
Team Hit Pct. .206 .255 .240
Random Trivia
Did you know that Creighton has never had a volleyball player that finished high school in the state of Missouri.
Rounding Second, Headed For Home
With a 7-0 record thus far, Creighton is assured a winning record as it reaches the halfway point in MVC action on Saturday night. CU's best-ever record for either the first or second half of a season was the 7-2 mark in the first half of the 2001 and 2006 campaigns.
Creighton has had a winning record at the midway point on seven previous occasions, and qualified for the MVC Tournament each time.
League Record by Year
Year 1st Half 2nd Half MVC place
2007 7-0 - -
2006 7-2 5-4 4th
2005 4-5 6-3 5th
2004 5-4 5-4 5th
2003 5-4 4-5 T-5th
2002 1-8 1-8 T-9th
2001 7-2 5-4 4th
2000 5-4 5-4 T-4th
1999 5-4 4-5 5th
1998 2-7 3-6 8th
1997 6-3 4-5 T-3rd
1996 2-7 3-6 T-6th
1995 3-7 3-7 T-7th
1994 2-8 1-9 T-9th
Total 61-65 49-70 --
Attendance Is Up Across The Board
Creighton ranks fourth nationally in average volleyball attendance with 2,940 fans per home match. That currently ranks ahead of the MVC record of 2,680, done by the 1998 Illinois State program.
One block north of the Omaha Civic Auditorium at Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium, Creighton's men's soccer team leads the country with 3,681 fans per home match.
Last year Creighton also finished 13th nationally in men's basketball average attendance, setting an all-time MVC mark with 15,909 fans per game.
Top Five Crowds
According to numbers calculated by Diane Nordstrom at the University of Wisconsin, Creighton ranks fourth nationally thus far with an average home attendance of 2,940 fans per game. Creighton is one of four MVC schools in the top-15 on her list, joining Wichita State, Northern Iowa and Illinois State.
2007 Volleyball Home Average Attendance Leaders
Rk. School Ave. Total Dates
1. Hawaii 6,440 83,726 13
2. Nebraska 5,124 46,115 9
3. Wisconsin 4,553 22,764 5
4. Creighton 2,940 17,637 6
5. Florida 2,919 23,349 8
6. Minnesota 2,748 24,773 9
7. Penn State 2,660 23,944 9
8. Stanford 2,364 11,818 5
9. Wichita State 2,348 21,134 9
10. Texas A&M 2,230 15,609 7
11. Purdue 2,123 10,615 5
12. Texas 2,070 10,351 5
13. Northern Iowa 1,994 13,955 7
14. New Mexico State 1,976 13,835 7
15. Illinois State 1,771 14,170 8
ESPN.com Comes Calling
Creighton's volleyball team will be getting some national attention this week as ESPN.com writer Dave Reed is working on a story about the Bluejays.
Reed interviewed Korie Lebeda, Kelly Goc and Kirsten Bernthal Booth for the piece, which is expected to be published on Wednesday.
Goc Comfortable Against Bears
Junior Kelly Goc piles up the stats on a regular basis for Creighton, but it wasn't always that way. When Goc was a freshman, she had just 31 kills in her first 10 matches.
Goc broke out of that slow start in a big way during a Sept. 25, 2004 match at Missouri State. Goc had 20 kills that night despite making just her second career start.
Since that match, Goc has had 10 or more kills in 74 of the last 94 matches, including all six meetings with Missouri State.
Hanging With the Huskers
Top-ranked defending national champion Nebraska has been near unstoppable this season, winning each of its last 12 matches by sweeps and dropping only one game all season in a 14-0 start.
Of the 13 matches Nebraska has swept, Creighton's 67 points scored rank second-most by any opponent, trailing No. 3 Penn State by just one point. Keep in mind that the Jays played that match without the services of all-MVC MB Kelly Goc.
Nebraska Points Allowed, Three-Game Sweeps
Pts. Opponent AVCA Rank Date
68 vs. Penn State 3 09/02
67 Creighton - 08/31
67 Duke 13 09/07
66 Texas 7 09/12
64 New Mexico State 20 09/08
63 at Colorado - 10/06
60 at Kansas - 09/26
59 Texas A&M - 09/22
57 Cal Poly 24 09/03
57 Kansas State 16 10/03
54 at Texas Tech - 09/15
52 vs. Tennessee - 08/24
40 Baylor - 09/29
What's Your Twenty?
Creighton will play in its 20th match of the season on Saturday. With two wins this weekend, the Jays will raise their record to 15-5, matching the 2006 squad for the best 20-match record in school history.
Below is a comparison of Creighton's overall and MVC records after the 20th match each year since 1994.
CU Record After 20 Matches
Year W-L MVC W-L
1994 5-15 3-12
1995 8-12 4-8
1996 6-14 2-9
1997 10-10 7-6
1998 6-14 4-10
1999 10-10 6-6
2000 12-8 6-5
2001 11-9 9-3
2002 1-19 1-12
2003 8-12 5-4
2004 13-7 5-5
2005 10-10 4-5
2006 15-5 7-2
2007 13-5 so far 7-0 so far
Nice Going, Ace
Carolyn Decker's serving has come up big since MVC play started. The junior from Bellevue, Neb., has served 14 aces in that time, a figure that ranks tied for first in the league. Five of her aces came on in CU's last home match against Indiana State, the most by any Bluejay in a match this fall.
Perfect 9
Since Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival in 2003, Creighton is a perfect 9-0 against both Evansville and Southern Illinois. The Purple Aces and Salukis are the only Valley opponents that Booth has not lost to. Creighton's nine-match win streaks are its longest over any opponent in history.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Missouri State ranks as the only MVC team that Booth has not beaten. The Bluejays are 0-8 against MSU over the past five years, and have lost 18 in a row overall to the Bears.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 111-6 (.949) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 53-0 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 52-3 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-134 (.043) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-41 mark in those home matches. Those six comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below:
Date Opponent Games 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
Back From The Brink
On Sept. 21, Creighton became the first team in history to win at Northern Iowa after dropping the first two games of a match. UNI won the first two games by scores of 30-25 and 30-24 before CU stormed back to even the match with 31-29 and 30-26 wins.
In game five, Creighton trailed 10-4 before scoring 11 of the final 13 points in the match to notch the win over the MVC's preseason favorite.
It was just the sixth time in 140 attempts that Creighton has won a match after trailing 2-0. Four of those comebacks have come in the five-year reign of head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Prior to Sept. 21, UNI had won 217 straight matches it led 2-0. The Panthers had also been 490-2 all-time when up 2-0 in five-game matches, including a 278-0 mark at home.
Oelke Goes For 23 Kills
Freshman Allie Oelke had 23 kills in Creighton's three game win at Bradley on Sept. 22nd. It ranked as the second-highest total in a three-game match in CU history, trailing only Leah Ratzlaff's 25 at Evansville on Oct. 30, 2004.
It's also the most kills in a three-game match by any player in the MVC this season.
Below is a list of Creighton freshmen to have had 23 or more kills in a match, as well as the longest streaks of 10 or more kills by CU freshmen.
Most Kills In A Match By A Freshmen
Kills Name Date
30 Melissa Walsh at Indiana State 10/16/98
28 Melissa Walsh vs. Drake 10/10/98
23 JoDe Cieloha at Evansville 10/07/94
23 Michelle Prorock vs. Evansville 11/04/94
23 Allie Oelke at Bradley 09/22/07
Creighton Freshmen With 20+ Kills
Times Name (High) Year
4 Melissa Walsh (30) 1998
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 1994
1 Allie Oelke (23) 2007
1 Kelly Goc (20) 2004
1 Carolyn Decker (22) 2004
1 Jodi Bjoin (21) 1999
1 Shelly Kapler (22) 1996
1 Michelle Prorock (23) 1994
Kills In A Three Game Match
25 Leah Ratzlaff at Evansville 10-30-04
23 Melissa Walsh vs. Southern Illinois 11-2-01
23 Leah Ratzlaff vs. UC-Riverside 9-2-05
23 Allie Oelke at Bradley 9-22-07
No Houts, No Matter
Creighton has won nine of 10 matches since Jessica Houts was injured prior to the team's Sept. 11 match at Drake.
Despite the absence of Houts, who was leading the team in kills per game and blocks per game, the Jays have won a pair of five-game matches, one four-gamer and six sweeps. Their only loss in that span was a four-game setback at #13 Minnesota.
As can be seen from the stats below, Abby Baumann, Lauren Bloemke and Allie Oelke have picked up the slack offensively, while Bianca Rivera and Sarah Schulze have raised her game on defense.
Predictably, Creighton's blocking has suffered, but the Jays have made up for it with substantially better digging since Houts went down.
Stat With Houts Without Houts
Team W-L 4-4 9-1
Team KPG 14.65 16.28
Team DPG 15.85 20.83
Team BPG 3.13 2.36
Baumann KPG 0.75 2.12
Bloemke KPG 1.43 2.75
Oelke KPG 2.62 3.72
Rivera DPG 5.62 6.22
Schulze DPG 0.83 3.33
Jays Sweep MVC Awards
Creighton became the first program in MVC history to sweep the MVC Player of the Week, Newcomer of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same week on Oct. 1st.
Kelly Goc earned her third career Player of the Week honor after averaging 4.71 kills and hitting .388 in wins over Illinois State and Indiana State.
Allie Oelke was named Newcomer of the Week for the second time in three weeks. The freshman from Chaska, Minn., averaged 3.29 kills and 4.00 digs after turning in a pair of double-doubles.
Bianca Rivera was named Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row. She averaged 7.43 digs per game while increasing her record streak to five straight matches of 20 or more digs.
Rivera Keeps On Digging
Bianca Rivera had five consecutive matches with 20 or more digs from Sept. 15-29, breaking the former CU mark of three. In those five matches, she had 123 digs in 19 games, an average of 6.47 dpg.
Consecutive Matches, 20 or More Digs
5 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 15-29, 2007
3 Janeen Piller, Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2004
3 Mallory Lahm, Oct. 21-29, 2005
3 Katie Mehal, Oct. 13-21, 2006
3 Katie Mehal, Nov. 17-24, 2006
Baumann & Rivera Honored by MVC
A pair of Bluejays were honored by the MVC office for their play on the weekend of Sept. 21-22.
Abby Baumann was named MVC Player of the Week after averaging 4.00 kills and 2.38 digs per game while hitting .324 in wins over UNI and Bradley. Baumann had a career-best 24 kills in the win over UNI, while adding 11 digs for her first double-double of the season. Baumann, who owns a 3.96 GPA in Organizational Communications, was also named the Prairie Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
Bianca Rivera was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week. She averaged 5.62 digs per game in the two victories. She had 24 digs in the 3-2 win at UNI, then followed with 21 digs in three games at Bradley.
It was the first career weekly honor from the MVC for both women.
Baumann Bodacious
Senior Abby Baumann entered the Sept. 21 match with UNI with 20 kills in Creighton's first 12 matches this year, only to notch a career-high 24 kills in the win over Northern Iowa.
Even more remarkable is the fact that Baumann did not have a kill in game one. Five of her kills came in game five, including consecutive putaways with the score tied at 12-12.
Baumann also added 11 digs for her first double-double of 2007 and the 22nd double-double of her career.
Though her playing time has fluctuated this season, Baumann owns 720 kills and 894 career digs. She is one of six players in program history to rank in the top-10 in both career kills and digs.
Houts Out For Season
Junior MB Jessica Houts will miss the rest of the 2007 season after tearing the ACL in her right knee during warm-ups prior to Creighton's Sept. 11 match at Drake.
Houts was leading the team with 3.35 kills per game and 1.65 blocks per game at the time of her injury and had been named an all-Tournament Team pick the previous two weekends.
She is expected to apply for and receive a medical redshirt, having played in only eight matches this year. Houts underwent successful surgery on Sept. 21.
Goc & Oelke All-Tourney at Gopher Invite
Creighton had two players named to the All-Tournament Team at the Gopher Invitational, Kelly Goc and Allie Oelke. Both players had 10 or more kills in all three matches at the event.
A senior from Ralston, Neb., Goc averaged 3.90 kills while hitting .368, adding 1.10 blocks per game.
A freshman from Chaska, Minn., Oelke averaged 3.60 kills, 2.80 digs and 1.00 blocks in the three matches.
Also named all-Tournament were Minnesota's Kyla Roehrig, Jessy Jones and Brook Dieter (MVP), Charlotte's Cori Dayton and Green Bay's Betty Slinger.
Oelke Named MVC Freshman of the Week
Allie Oelke was named State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week on Sept. 17.
Oelke averaged 4.50 points, 3.53 kills, 2.73 digs, 0.87 blocks and 0.47 aces and earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Gopher Invitational as Creighton went 3-1.
The Chaska, Minn, native had 10 or more kills in all four matches, which helped her achieve the first three double-doubles of her career.
Oelke opened her week by finishing with career-highs of 17 kills, 13 digs and four aces in Creighton's dramatic road win at Drake. Oelke saved her best for game five, as she had three kills, five digs and three aces in the first game five of her young career. With the fifth game tied at 15-15, Oelke served back-to-back aces to end the match.
Oelke then returned to her home state with three strong matches at the Gopher Invitational. She had 10 kills and 12 digs to go with four blocks in Creighton's 3-0 sweep of Green Bay on Sept. 14.
One day later, Oelke had 13 kills, 11 digs, four blocks and two aces as Creighton never trailed against a Charlotte team that was 20-12 last year.
Oelke concluded the tournament with 13 kills, five digs, two blocks and an ace in a four-game loss to #13 Minnesota.
Oelke Over 100 & 200 Kills Already
It took just 11 matches for Allie Oelke to surpass 100 career kills, fourth-fastest in Creighton history. Oelke is bidding to become Creighton's first freshman to pace the squad in kills since Melissa Walsh in 1998.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
JoDe Cieloha 8 09/23/94 at Drake
Melissa Walsh 10 09/26/98 at Bradley
Carolyn Decker 10 09/18/04 Illinois State
Allie Oelke 11 09/15/07 Charlotte
Rachelle Von 12 10/10/97 Evansville
Megan Waldren 12 10/07/94 at Evansville
Oelke, who passed the 200-kill plateau in her 18th career match (at SIU on Oct. 6), became CU's second-quickest player to 200 kills.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 16 10/16/98 at Indiana State
JoDe Cieloha 18 10/30/94 at UMKC
Allie Oelke 18 10/06/07 at So. Illinois
Shelly Kapler 22 11/09/96 at Bradley
Rivera Ties Digs Record
Bianca Rivera tied Creighton's school-record with 38 digs in Creighton's Sept. 11 match at Drake, also done by Melissa Weisensee vs. Evansville on Oct. 10, 1997.
Rivera had 10 digs in game one, nine digs in game two, 13 digs in game three, five digs in game four, and one dig in game five.
Rivera's 38 digs rank tied for seventh in MVC history, seven shy of the record held by Patricia Dietz (UNI) and Melissa Granville (Wichita State).
Rivera's 38 digs are the most in the MVC this year and helped increase her season dig average to 5.97, good for second in the league.
Rivera Digging It
Bianca Rivera has proven to be a difference-maker on the defensive end just 18 matches into her Division I career. The junior college transfer had a 23 digs on September 2 against Cal Poly, including 16 in the second game alone. She then tied a 10-year old school-record with 38 digs against Drake.
Rivera now owns 370 digs on the season. Her six matches to reach 100 career digs is easily the quickest in school history, four matches quicker than three others. She is also the quickest to 200 career digs, (needing just 11 matches to reach that milestone, five fewer matches than the next fastest) and 300 digs (15 matches, 10 matches faster than anyone else).
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 6 09/02/07 #18 Cal Poly
Melissa Weisensee 10 09/30/94 Missouri State
Kailey Reyes 10 09/27/98 at W. Illinois
Brittany Coleman 10 09/19/03 Southern Illinois
Sarah Schulze 11 09/16/06 Southern Illinois
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Kailey Reyes 16 10/17/98 at Illinois State
Melissa Walsh 20 10/30/98 at Wichita State
Brittany Coleman 20 10/18/03 at Illinois State
Sarah Schulze 21 11/18/06 at Evansville
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 15 09/28/07 Illinois State
Kailey Reyes 25 09/03/99 vs. Gonzaga
Melissa Walsh 30 09/10/99 Southern Illinois
Brittany Coleman 31 09/03/04 at Missouri
Melissa Weisensee 32 09/15/95 Evansville
Creighton's Quickest Players To 400 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Kailey Reyes 34 09/18/99 at Bradley
Melissa Walsh 40 09/26/99 UMKC
Melissa Weisensee 41 09/30/95 at Missouri State
Janeen Piller 42 09/05/03 vs. E. Washington
Korie Lebeda 42 09/19/06 at S. Dakota State
Rivera One Of A Few
Junior Bianca Rivera has collected 14 or more digs in every match this season, the only player in the MVC that can make that claim.
In fact, only three Valley players have had 10 digs or more in every match this season, Rivera, Ellie Blankenship (UNI) and Kelly Broussard (WSU).
Rivera's streak of 18 straight double-digit dig is the second-longest in Bluejay history. Two others on the list, Abby Baumann and Katie Mehal, are seniors on this year's team.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs, CU History
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
18 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24, 2007-Present
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
Goc Plays In 100th Match
Senior Kelly Goc enters this weekend having played in a team-high 104 matches in her career. She became the 10th player in Bluejay history to play in 100 career matches on Sept. 22 at Bradley. If Goc plays in each of Creighton's final 11 conference matches, she'd tie Leah Ratzlaff with 115 career matches played.
Goc also ranks fourth in school history with 90 career starts.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton survived two match points in its win over Drake on Sept. 11th, the fourth time in five years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth that the Jays had won after facing an opponents match point.
Creighton trailed 14-13 and 15-14 before winning the final fifth game 17-15.
On the other hand, Creighton is 80-0 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Game 5
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
Double-Double Double
Creighton had a pair of players record their first double-doubles of the season on Sept. 11 at Drake. Sarah Schulze had 10 kills and 10 digs, just the second double-double of her career. For freshman Allie Oelke, her 17 kills and 13 digs led to the first double-double of her career.
At the Gopher Invitational, Schulze, Oelke and Korie Lebeda all had double-doubles against Green Bay, with Oelke following up with a third straight dub-dub against Charlotte.
Creighton has five different players with a total of 16 double-doubles this season.
By comparison, last year CU had three people combine for 38 double-doubles as Lebeda (21), Abby Baumann (16) and Schulze (1) all had double-dimes.
Game Five Frenzy
Creighton is 18-4 in five-game matches over the last five seasons. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth games prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-game matches on a yearly basis:
Year Game 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 13-5
Total 33-32 173-210
Statistically Speaking
Creighton can be found throughout the latest edition of the NCAA statistics, which include matches through Oct. 7th.
As a team, Creighton ranked 60th in blocks per game, 61st in assists per game, 64th in kills per game, 20th in digs per game, 53rd in winning percentage, 137th in hitting percentage and 206th in aces per game.
Individually, Creighton has six different players that rank in the top 500 of a category, as seen below:
Name Rank Stat
Bianca Rivera 12th 5.97 digs per game
Korie Lebeda 71st 11.92 assts. per game
Kelly Goc 72nd .348 hitting pct.
Kelly Goc 148th 3.85 kills per game
Kelly Goc 296th 0.96 blocks per game
Allie Oelke 337th 0.35 aces per game
Allie Oelke 342nd 3.26 kills per game
Lauren Bloemke 356th .259 hitting pct.
Carolyn Decker 368th 0.35 aces per game
Lauren Bloemke 434th 0.85 blocks per game
Quick Starts A Key
The importance of getting off to a good start is crucial in any sport, and volleyball is no different. Below is a breakdown of all Creighton matches the past two seasons and the record of the teams to reach various milestones first during each game.
In other words, the team in Creighton's matches that gets to 15 points in a game first are 56-4 this year and were 85-26 last year.
Games 1-4 Only
Milestone 2007 W-L 2006 W-L
When scoring 1st point 41-18 55-56
When getting to 5 pts first 42-18 66-45
When getting to 10 pts first 46-14 76-35
When getting to 15 pts first 56-4 85-26
When getting to 20 pts first 56-4 91-20
When getting to 25 pts first 56-4 98-13
Game 5's Only
Milestone 2007 W-L 2006 W-L
When scoring 1st point 1-1 4-2
When getting to 3 pts first 0-2 3-3
When getting to 5 pts first 0-2 4-2
When getting to 8 pts first 0-2 4-2
When getting to 10 pts first 0-2 4-2
When getting to 13 pts first 2-0 5-1
MVC Opener Histories
Thanks to a Sept. 11 win at Drake, Creighton now owns a 7-7 record all-time in Missouri Valley Conference openers, including a 4-1 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. In the six previous seasons that Creighton won its MVC opener, it has never finished worse than 9-9 in league play and owns a combined .574 winning percentage in MVC action.
In the seven years in which Creighton lost its MVC opener, the Jays have had a losing record five times and own a combined .315 winning percentage during league contests.
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0
At the start of the conference season, all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools will harbor dreams of a regular-season league title. However, if the past is any indication of the future, eight teams (all but Creighton and Missouri State) had their dreams shattered after just three weeks of play.
Since the beginning of the Gateway Conference (which later merged to form the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992) in 1983, no school has ever won the regular-season or tournament title after dropping its first league match of the season.
Going a step further, the 1996 Illinois State team and the 2006 UNI team are the only schools to have ever won the regular-season title outright without starting 4-0 or better. The Redbirds lost its third league match of the 1996 season at Drake, but would win its final 15 matches to finish 17-1, one game ahead of the Bulldogs. UNI lost its second league match at Wichita State last year but would win the league with a 16-2 mark.
Home Losses Are Also Devastating
Last year Northern Iowa became the first program to lose a home conference match and win the regular-season title outright in that same season.
It's also worth noting that 12 of the last 13 regular-season MVC champions finished the year with one regular-season loss or fewer. The exception was last year's UNI team that was 16-2, with both losses coming against Wichita State.
This year every MVC team has lost at least one conference home match except Creighton.
All-Tourney Pair
Jessica Houts and Bianca Rivera were both named to the All-Tournament Team at the State Farm Illini Classic. Houts averaged 3.29 kills, 2.14 digs and 2.00 blocks per game while Rivera averaged 5.71 digs per game. It was the second All-Tournament Team honor this year for both women.
Crowd of 13,081 Is NCAA Record
The largest regular-season volleyball-only crowd in NCAA Volleyball history, 13,081, was on hand for Creighton's match on Sept. 2 against Cal Poly. The match was the first half of a Holiday Inn Downtown Classic doubleheader that included Penn State playing Nebraska in the nightcap.
The previous largest crowd had been 12,504 when Colorado visited Nebraska on Nov. 4, 2000.
It also shattered the previous MVC and Creighton record for home attendance in a match of 12,112 that the Jays hosted last year for a home match against the Huskers.
Houts Named To All-Tournament Team
Junior Jessica Houts was named to the Holiday Inn Downtown Classic All-Tournament Team on Sept. 2. Houts led Creighton with 19 kills and seven blocks in matches against nationally-ranked Nebraska and Cal Poly over the weekend. The Bloomington, Minn., native also led all Bluejay attackers with a .226 hitting average.
Other players honored were Nebraska's Rachel Holloway, Jordan Larson and Sarah Pavan (MVP), Penn State's Christa Harmotto and Cal Poly's Kylie Atherstone.
Bloemke Steps It Up
Sophomore MB Lauren Bloemke had the match of her career to date on Aug. 28 in a win over Iowa State. Bloemke had career-highs with 18 kills and three aces while also adding three blocks and a pair of assists. Even more impressive is that she didn't enter the match until Kelly Goc was injured with the score 15-14 in game one.
Coming into the night, her previous high had been 10 kills in one match. Her three aces, which all came during an 11-0 serving run, matched her career total to that point. Last season Bloemke did not record her 18th kill of the season until CU's 16th match, a Sept. 30 win over Indiana State.
Bloemke currently ranks third on the team with 17 aces in only 212 serving attempts. By comparison, last year she had one ace and nine errors in 37 serving attempts all season.
Booth Becomes Volleyball Wins Leader
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became the winningest volleyball coach in modern school history with her team's 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin on Aug. 25. The victory was Booth's 69th at Creighton, passing Howard Wallace who was 68-94 in six years from 1997-2002.
Oelke A Rising Star
Allie Oelke improved her numbers with each of the first four matches she played in to start her career, increasing her kill totals from four to seven to eight to 13.
Oelke is just the fourth true freshman to start Creighton's season opener since 1999. Each of the previous three players (Brittany Coleman/2003, Carolyn Decker/2004, Korie Lebeda/2005) would go on to earn MVC All-Freshman Team honors.
Oelke had 13 kills, nine digs, three aces and a block in CU's win at Iowa State on Aug. 28. On Sept. 2 against Cal Poly, the unflappable freshman had 11 kills and nine digs before the largest crowd in NCAA volleyball-only, regular-season history (13,081). Oelke then had 17 kills, 13 digs and four aces in the win at Drake (Sept. 11), including back-to-back aces to finish CU's 17-15 game-five win.
Lebeda Passes 3,000 Assists
Junior setter Korie Lebeda notched her 3,000th career assist on a set to Sarah Schulze on the first point of Creighton's victory over Iowa State on Aug. 28th. The milestone came in Lebeda's 65th match played and 231st game of her career.
As a reference, it took UNI's Jill Arganbright 73 matches (247 games) to reach 3,000 career assists. Arganbright closed her career with an MVC-record 6,064 assists from 2000-03 in 138 matches.
Lebeda was already the quickest player to 1,000 career assists in Creighton history, taking 23 matches (77 games) to get there, as well as 2,000 career assists (43 matches, 152 games).
Below is Creighton's quickest players to reach 3,000 assists:
Matches to
Name 3,000 asts. Opponent
Korie Lebeda 65 8/28/07 at Iowa State
Kailey Reyes 72 11/17/00 at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee 88 9/5/97 vs. Texas-San Antonio
Lebeda Takes A Break (Finally)
Korie Lebeda played every point of her freshman and sophomore seasons, and the first 299 points of her junior year before finally being replaced by Rachel Vrbicky with CU owning a 26-10 lead over Montana State on Aug. 25th. That brought her amazing streak to 11,849 consecutive points without a break to open her college career.
After coming out for three points, Lebeda returned for the final six points of that match.
Lebeda also rested the final four points of Creighton's win over Indiana State on Sept. 29.
Lebeda has now played in 14,567 of a possible 14,574 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.952 percent.
Scheduling Up
Last year Creighton won three matches against teams that advanced to the 2006 NCAA Tournament: Jacksonville State, Saint Louis and Middle Tennessee.
This year's schedule features 11 matches against 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, including defending national champion Nebraska. Creighton has already beaten Stephen F. Austin, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Tennessee this year from that group.
Other NCAA qualifiers from 2006 include Middle Tennessee, Cal Poly, Minnesota and Missouri State (2).
Creighton will play 10 matches against teams that received votes in the AVCA Preseason Top-25 poll.
Beating NCAA Tourney Teams
There's an old saying that “to be the best, you've got to beat the best”. Creighton's win on Aug. 25 over Stephen F. Austin was its seventh all-time over a team that appeared in the NCAA Tournament the previous season. Others on that list were Illinois State (twice in 1999), Missouri (2004), Florida Atlantic (2006), Nevada (2006) and Jacksonville State (2006). CU followed that up with a win on Aug. 28 at Iowa State.
However, the win over Stephen F. Austin was the first win over a team that won a match in that trip to the NCAA's, a feat they duplicated on Aug. 28 at Iowa State and Sept. 21 at Northern Iowa.
Creighton will get three more chances to beat NCAA winners from a year ago, two matches against Missouri State and one remaining match with UNI.
Goc Moves Into Top 10 In Kills, Blocks
Junior middle blocker Kelly Goc got 36 kills at last year's MVC Tournament to become the fifth member of Creighton's 1,000-kill club. She's just the third player to reach that milestone as a junior, joining Melissa Walsh and Leah Ratzlaff.
Goc continues to crash the Creighton record books in several career categories, as seen below:
Goc on the Career Lists
Stat Rank Goc Total
Hitting Pct. T-1st .283
Points 2nd 1441.0
Points Per Game 3rd 4.12
Kills Per Game 3rd 3.46
Kills 4th 1,212
Matches Started 4th 90
Block Assists 4th 274
Blocks 4th 311
Attack Attempts 5th 2,951
Matches Played 6th 104
Block Solos 7th 37
Blocks Per Game 8th 0.89
Games Played 8th 350
Goc Opened With Big Weekend
Kelly Goc had a big start to her senior season, hitting .508 while averaging a team-best 4.12 kills per game at the Bluejay Invitational. Goc led CU with 12 kills on Friday while hitting .385 against Middle Tennessee, then hit 21-1-33 (.606) in two wins on Saturday.
Included in that was a 14-0-21 performance (.667) against Stephen F. Austin that is tied for the third-best hitting percentage in school history.
Goc leads Creighton with a .348 hitting percentage, 4.60 points and 3.85 kills per game.
Defensive Effort Supreme
Montana State's 15 kills on Aug. 25 tied the fewest ever allowed by Creighton, matching the mark set by Drake on Sept. 22, 2006.
Additionally, Montana State's -.044 hitting percentage was the third-lowest by a Bluejay opponent ever.
Lowest Hitting Percentages vs. Creighton
Pct. Team K E TA Date
-.108 UMKC 19 27 74 9/15/96
-.086 Drake 15 23 93 9/22/06
-.044 Montana State 15 19 90 8/25/07
-.008 UMKC 29 30 125 10/24/00
-.007 Wichita State 27 28 135 10/21/95
Crowds Kept Coming
Creighton ranked 16th nationally in average attendance (1,611) in 2006, its best finish ever. That ranks as a 683% increase from the 2002 season, the final year before Kirsten Bernthal Booth arrived. Below is the 2006 attendance list:
2006 Volleyball Home Average Attendance
Rk. School Ave. Total Dates
1. Hawaii 7,186 158,093 22
2. Nebraska 4,137 78,598 19
3. Wisconsin 3,900 66,294 17
4. Minnesota 3,620 50,673 14
5. Missouri 2,565 28,216 11
6. Penn State 2,548 48,417 19
7. Washington 2,516 37,741 15
8. Florida 2,425 41,223 17
9. Texas 2,169 34,711 16
10. Wichita State 2,083 29,157 14
11. Stanford 2,061 30,918 15
12. BYU 1,882 24,464 13
13. New Mexico State 1,830 31,111 17
14. Texas A&M 1,781 21,376 12
15. Northern Iowa 1,708 23,909 14
16. Creighton 1,611 20,940 13
Cal Poly 1,611 16,114 10
18. Purdue 1,594 27,096 17
19. Michigan State 1,455 21,825 15
20. Illinois 1,366 19,127 14
Opening Weekend Records Fall
Creighton had a bunch of records fall during the first weekend of the season at the Bluejay Invitational.
Freshman Allie Oelke tied a school-record with three aces in her debut, which had been done three times previously.
In Oelke's second match, she tied a Bluejay Invitational record with four aces against Montana State.
Oelke would also go on to set the tournament record with eight aces overall in three matches.
Junior Bianca Rivera set a school-record with 14 digs in her debut match, three more than the previous mark held by Mallory Lahm (2004).
Rivera has already set another school record as she has opened her career with 18 straight matches of 10 or more digs. The previous record of three was held by Brittany Coleman (2003).
Fall 2006 Summary
Creighton's 2006 team finished 21-10 while wrapping up the program's best season since its 1994 reinstatement. The Bluejays opened 10-1, including tournament titles at Middle Tennessee and Montana State, and also hung tough in a four-game loss to #1 Nebraska before 12,112 fans at Qwest Center Omaha.
The team would finish an impressive 13-5 away from home, including a 4-1 neutral site record, and fell in the semifinals of the MVC Tourney to Northern Iowa.
Kelly Goc and Korie Lebeda were named first-team all-MVC while Jessica Houts was a second-team selection. Senior captain Emily Greisch was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American and joined Lebeda and Abby Baumann on the Valley's Scholar-Athlete First Team.
20-Win Season
Creighton reached the 20-win milestone for the first time in modern school history last year and finished with 21 victories. The previous school-record for wins since the program's 1994 reinstatement had been the 2004 team that finished 18-11.
Creighton also tied its school-record with 12 conference wins last season, previously accomplished in 2001.
Reshuffled Decker
One player that might have anticipated the start of the 2007 season more than any other is fourth-year junior Carolyn Decker. Decker, who earned all-MVC Freshman Team honors in 2004, has missed the majority of the past two years with injuries.
Decker missed all but six matches of the 2005 season after tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in her right elbow.
Last season, Decker was hurt during the third match of the opening weekend when she tore the ACL in her left knee while landing on a jump serve.
Baby Jays
Two members of the coaching staff added a child during the offseason.
Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth and her husband, Erik, welcomed a daughter, Hayden Isabel Bernthal Booth, to the world on August 3rd. The couple also has a two-year old daughter, Reese. Booth missed the first two weeks of preseason practice and returned to her coaching duties full-time on August 20th.
Associate head coach Paul Giesselmann and his wife, Dr. Paige Groppe, welcomed a daughter, Ansley Paige Giesselmann, on April 9th. The couple also has twin 11-year old boys, Hunter and Garret.
MVC Leaders
Creighton has two different returners that led the league in a statistical category for MVC-only matches. Kelly Goc led the way with 3.97 kills per game and Korie Lebeda was first with 13.25 assists per game.
In addition, Amanda Cvejdlik finished second with 0.51 aces per game, though her 34 aces topped all players.
For all matches, Lebeda was first with 12.79 assists per game, easily outdistancing Illinois State's Erin Lindsey's 11.96 apg. that ranked second.
Creighton's team also led the MVC in four different statistical categories, both for all matches and MVC matches only. The Jays led the league in assists per game, kills per game, fewest opponent kills per game and fewest opponent assists by per game.
Freshman Get To Start
Creighton has started at least one freshman in 153 of its last 156 matches. The opening weekend of 2006 remains the only time since Sept. 20, 2002, that Creighton opened a match without a freshman starter.
Defensive Awards
Following last season the Collegiate Volleyball Update website (www.cvu.com) honored Creighton with a pair of defensive awards. The Jays were one of five teams in the running for “Deep Digging Team of the Year”, which was won by Murray State.
Additionally, Creighton was also one of five teams in CVU's Overall Defensive Team of the Year list, which was topped by Missouri State.
Setting The Fab Four
One reason Korie Lebeda led the Missouri Valley Conference with 12.79 assists per game last year was that she had plenty of offensive weapons to choose from. The Bluejays boasted four players ranked in the MVC's top 18 in kills. Kelly Goc (3.94) was second, Amanda Cvejdlik (3.58) was fifth, Jessica Houts (3.33) is ninth and Abby Baumann (2.78) was 18th.
Creighton owned four players with at least 300 kills. Not only had CU never had four players at that level in any season, but they've never done that over any two-year span either. In the first 12 years of the program, only 14 players had ever had 300 or more kills.
Production Returning
Creighton returns 10-of-13 letterwinners from last season, and more than 94 percent of their statistical production in every category except digs, as seen below:
Stat Returners Departures
Kills 1903 (99.7%) 5 (0.3%)
Blocks 305.5 (99.3%) 2.0 (0.7%)
Points 2382.5 (99.3%) 17.0 (0.7%)
Assists 1715 (98.2%) 32 (1.8%)
Matches Started 175 (94.1%) 11 (5.9%)
Aces 173 (94.0%) 11 (6.0%)
Digs 1954 (86.7%) 299 (13.3%)
The Baumann Barometer
Creighton's record is 24-7 all-time when Abby Baumann reaches double-digit kills. Creighton is also 18-5 all-time when Baumann finishes with a double-double.
A more telling statistic revolves around Baumann's hitting percentage. CU is 27-0 in her career when she has 10 attacks or more and hits .208 or better, but just 41-40 in her career when she hasn't.
Baumann averaged 2.96 kills and hit .172 in CU's 21 wins last year, but just 2.44 kills and hit .000 in the Jays 10 losses.
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 65 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 59-6.
CU is 66-10 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 14-48 under Booth it they drop the first game.
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton was picked third in the 2007 MVC preseason coaches poll. Northern Iowa (97 points, seven first place votes) was favored to win its second straight title, just ahead of Wichita State (85, one) and Creighton (81, two). Rounding out the rest of the league was Missouri State, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Evansville, Bradley, Drake and Indiana State.
Each of the past three years Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them in the preseason poll.
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 ???
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics
The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2007 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA. Last spring the Bluejay volleyball team posted a cumulative GPA of 3.38, as six student-athletes landed on the Dean's List (3.5 or better).
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 20 regular-season matches this season on KVSS (88.9 FM), as well as any potential MVC Tournament and NCAA Tournament matches. The matches will also be streamed on-line at www.kvss.com. A complete list of remaining matches follows:
Remaining Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Oct. 12 Wichita State
Oct. 13 Missouri State
Oct. 19 Bradley
Oct. 20 Northern Iowa
Nov. 2 Southern Illinois
Nov. 4 Evansville
Nov. 9 at Missouri State
Nov. 10 at Wichita State
Nov. 16 Drake
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches are sold at all Ticketmaster outlets. Cost is $7 for adults and $4 for youth (18 years of age or younger) with children five and under admitted free. Season ticket information is available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton has sold approximately 380 season tickets for volleyball this year after selling 286 season tickets last year.
