Volleyball Heads to State Farm MVC Tournament
11/20/2007 11:15:00 AM | Volleyball
This Week
Creighton (20-9, 14-4 MVC) looks to cap its best conference season ever with a first-ever title at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championships.
The Bluejays open the tournament in quarterfinal round action on Friday at 12:30 pm against Southern Illinois (15-15, 7-11 MVC). The winner of that match will play second-seeded Northern Iowa (20-10, 14-4 MVC) later that day at 7:30 pm.
Saturday's championship match will start at 4:05 pm, with the winner claiming the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Hammons Student Center (8,846) in Springfield, Mo., will host the action.
2007 State Farm MVC Tournament
Springfield, Mo. ? Hammons Sudent Center
Nov. 23
Match 1 #5 Illinois State (19-10, 11-7 MVC) at #4 Missuri State (25-6,
14-4, MVC) 10:00 am
Match 2 #6 Southern Illinois (1-15, 7-11 MVC) vs. #3 Creighton (20-9,
14-4 MVC) 12:30 pm
Match 3 Match 1 Winner vs. #1 Wichita State (26-4, 17-1, MVC) 5:00 pm
Match 4 Match 2 Winner vs. #2 Northern Iowa (20-10, 14-4 MVC) 7:30 pm
Nov. 24
Match 5 Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner 4:05 pm
Radio Broadcast Information
All of Creighton's matches at the MVC Tournament will be broadcast on KVSS (88.9 FM). They will also be streamed live on-line at www.kvss.com. Brad Burwell and Jessica Houts will call the action.
Video Broadcast Information
Missouri State officials are working to install the necessary hardware for video webcasts of the quarterfinals and semifinals of the MVC Tournament, but there are no guarantees at this point.
If available, the video webcast would be free with links available on www.mvc.org.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the MVC Tournament will have live stats. Missouri State's Athletics website (www.missouristatebears.com) will have links to each match, while Creighton's Athletics website (www.gocreighton.com) will link to each match the Bluejays participate in.
Television Information
Saturday's tournament final will be broadcast live by Fox College Sports and Metro Sports in Kansas City, Mo., at 4 pm. It will be tape-delayed in Omaha by Fox Sports Net Midwest and Fox Sports Net Indiana at 9:30 pm. It will also be tape delayed on Comcast SportsNet at 8 pm Central on Saturday night. Coordinates are below:
What: 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament Title Match
When: Saturday, November 24 -- 4:00 p.m. (Central)
Where: Hammons Student Center (8,846 capacity) -- Springfield, Mo.
Clearances: Tape-delay at 9:30 p.m. Central on Nov 24 on FSN Midwest (4.3 million homes); Tape-delay at 9:30 p.m. Central on Nov. 24 on FSN Indiana (1.2 million homes); Live at 4:00 p.m. Central on Nov. 24 on Fox College Sports (52 million digital homes); Tape-delay at 8:00 p.m. Central on Nov. 28 on Comcast SportsNet (4.8 million homes); Live at 4:00 p.m. Central on Nov. 24 on Metro Sports in Kansas City, Mo. (500,000 homes).
Test Time: 3:30 p.m. Central
On Air: 4:00 p.m. Central
First Serve: 4:06 p.m. Central
Satellite Coordinates: Galaxy 28K, Transponder 17 -- Digital Slot B
Band: Digital KU
Bandwidth: 9 Megahertz
Parameters: FEC <
Symbol Rate: 6.1113
Downlink Frequency: 12044.5 Megahertz Vertical
On-Air Talent: Greg Halbleib (play-by-play), Linda Dollar (analyst)
Scouting Creighton
Creighton enters the MVC Tournament with a 20-9 record after finishing tied for second in the MVC with a best-ever 14-4 league mark. Senior MB Kelly Goc is having a season worthy of MVC Player of the Year consideration, leading the MVC with a .371 attack percentage as well as 4.26 kills and 5.00 points per game.
Setting the Creighton offense has been all-Valley setter Korie Lebeda, who averages 12.44 assists per game and hits an impressive .309.
Two other newcomers have produced big numbers. Freshman OH Allie Oelke averages 3.25 kills, 3.10 digs and 0.36 aces per game, while junior libero Bianca Rivera averages a team-leading 5.75 digs per game.
Creighton is averaging 15.97 kills, 1.46 aces, 19.54 digs and 2.78 blocks per game while hitting .214 as a club. The Bluejays are 3-0 on neutral floors this fall.
Scouting Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois returns to the MVC Tournament for the first time since 2002 after tying Evansville for sixth place and winning a tiebreaker with the Purple Aces.
The Salukis started the season 8-2 but are just 1-12 on the season (beating #84 Cleveland State) against teams in the top-125 of the RPI.
Southern Illinois has five different players with more than 200 kills this year, led by Chandra Roberson (2.84 kpg., 1.10 bpg., .305).
Another top attacker to keep an eye on is Kristie Berwanger, who leads the team with 2.98 kills per game but has missed six matches.
Brooklyn Robbins averages 11.28 assists per game while running the Saluki offense. The school's all-time digs leader, libero Kristy Elswick, leads the back row with 4.38 digs per game.
SIU averages 14.29 kills, 1.68 aces, 17.12 digs and 2.86 blocks per game while hitting .188 as a club. The Salukis are 3-1 on neutral floors this year.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns an 87-62 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 coach Angie Oxley Behrens.
Southern Illinois is led by Brenda Winkeler, who owns a 36-50 record in three years with the Salukis and a career mark of 118-122 in eight seasons. She is assisted by Julie Yankus and Kyle Walton.
Series History vs. Southern Illinois
Creighton leads the all-time series with Southern Illinois by a 19-9 count, including 10 straight wins over the Salukis
Sweeps have been the norm in this series, as 1996 remains the only time in 14 years of meeting that the schools have split the season series. That's encouraging for Bluejay fans since Creighton won the first two meetings with SIU earlier this year.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns a 10-0 record against SIU, including her first MVC win on Sept. 19, 2003 in Omaha. She is 6-0 against Brenda Winkeler. Winkeler is 0-7 all-time against Creighton.
Creighton's 10 straight wins over Southern Illinois are tied with its current streak over Evansville for most consecutive victories over any opponent in school history.
The teams have never met on a neutral floor or at the MVC Tournament.
Previously This Year With Southern Illinois
Creighton beat Southern Illinois in Carbondale by a 3-0 count (30-19, 30-21, 30-24) on Oct. 6th before coming home to post a 3-1 win (17-30, 30-19, 30-16, 30-22) over the Salukis on Nov. 2nd.
Kelly Goc owns 39 kills in seven games against the Salukis this fall, while Bianca Rivera has 39 digs in the two wins. The Bluejays also held the Salukis under .100 hitting in both wins.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton closed the regular-season with a 3-1 win over Drake in Omaha last Friday, winning by scores of 28-30, 30-12, 30-22, 30-18.
Kelly Goc had a career-high 26 kills and seven blocks while hitting .625 in her final home match, while fellow senior Abby Baumann had 22 kills and hit .541.
Past MVC Tournament History
Creighton is 2-8 in eight previous appearances at the MVC Tournament, with wins coming in 1997 vs. Indiana State and in 2006 against Illinois State. Both wins took place in Normal, Ill., at Illinois State's Redbird Arena.
Creighton has never faced Southern Illinois in tournament action.
Creighton is 0-1 in tournament action in Springfield, falling in four games during the 2003 quarterfinals against Wichita State.
Creighton has never reached the final.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 1-4 all-time in league tournament action.
Series Info Against The MVC Tournament
Below is Creighton's all-time records against the five teams it could meet in this weekend's MVC Tournament:
Opponent All-Time Streak This Year
Illinois State 8-23 Won 5 2-0
Missouri State 4-25 Won 1 1-1
Northern Iowa 2-29 Lost 1 1-1
Southern Illinois 19-9 Won 10 2-0
Wichita State 14-16 Lost 3 0-2
TOTAL 47-102 -- 6-4
In The Postseason Hunt
If Creighton can continue its winning ways, there's little doubt it'll be in the conversation when NCAA Tournament pairings are announced. The Bluejays currently have an RPI of 56, while their Pablo ranking is 48.
According to RichKern.com, the top 51 teams in the RPI made the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
In the previous six years, 174 of the 217 (80.2 percent) potential at-large teams that had an RPI of 55 or better made the NCAA Tournament.
In the last six years, 16 of the 46 potential at-large teams (34.8 percent) with an RPI of 56-65 have made the NCAA Tournament, and at least one team with an RPI of 65 or higher has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last six years.
Overall, 86 percent of the teams ranked 50 or higher in Pablo have made the NCAA Tournament, whereas 83 percent of the top 50 in the RPI have been selected as an at-large team in the past six years.
The Case For Creighton...
Should they not win the automatic big, why should Creighton be considered for an at-large bid? Let's take a closer look (all numbers as of Nov. 19).
-Creighton has 20 wins for the second straight year.
-Creighton's non-conference strength of schedule stands at No. 13 nationally. Eight of Creighton's 11 non-conference opponents own an RPI of 98 or better, and CU is 6-5 against non-conference teams.
-Creighton tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 14-4 record, the nation's 10th-best conference.
-Creighton went 5-6 in 11 matches against teams that participated in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
-Creighton is just 60 miles from Lincoln, Neb., home of the defending national champions and a program that sells out every home match.
-Creighton isn't too shabby when it comes to attendance either, ranking in the top 16 nationally each of the past two years.
-Creighton has beaten four teams that advanced to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament this fall (at Iowa State, at UNI, at Missouri State and Stephen F. Austin at home).
-Creighton owns a 12-4 mark in matches away from home this year, including an 8-1 mark in the MVC.
-Creighton's RKPI was 56th as of Nov. 20.
-All nine of Creighton's losses have come to teams in the top 53 of the RKPI.
-Creighton is 7-3 in its last 10 matches, and if it reaches the MVC Tournament finals that record would improve to 8-2.
Kelly, Kelly, Kelly
Senior Kelly Goc has stepped up her game since teammate Jessica Houts was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Goc owns 10 or more kills in 21 of the last 22 matches. She has hit .206 or better in all but one match in that time frame, including a .379 or better hitting percentage 14 times.
On the season, Goc leads the Bluejays with 392 kills and a .371 attack percentage.
Goc leads the MVC with 4.26 kills per game, a .371 hitting percentage and 5.00 points per game.
The only two players in league history to lead the MVC in hitting percentage and kills per game were Northern Iowa's Bobbi Becker (1989) and Illinois State's Chris Rehor (1988).
Accurate, Efficient, Record-Breaker
Kelly Goc continues to chase down a couple of records that are related to her outstanding hitting percentage.
Goc's .371 hitting percentage this season easily outdistances the current standard of .310 set by Ashley Williams in 2003.
Goc's .296 career hitting percentage also would be a school-mark, ahead of Williams' (2001-04) final tally of .283.
MVC Single-Season Hitting Pct. Leaders (min.300 att.)
Pct. Name, School Year
.429 Elizabeth Meyers, WSU 2005
.393 Kara Galer, UNI 1994
.392 Linette White, MSU 2003
.385 Jen Ray, WSU 2005
.375 Elizabeth Meyers, WSU 2003
.372 Jen Ray, WSU 2004
.371 Kelly Goc, CU 2007
.365 Johannah Yutzy, SIU 2005
.363 Linette White, MSU 2001
.363 Sabrina Apker, MSU 2004
Record Watch
The Creighton team and players are breaking and approaching various single-season records.
Records Already Set (or ahead of current mark)
Category Record Active Player
Team Blocks/Game 2.65 Team, 2.78
Home Attendance 20,940 24,183
Home Ave. Attendance 1,611 1,860
Hitting Percentage .310 Kelly Goc, .371
Digs Per Game 5.59 Bianca Rivera, 5.75
Records Already Tied (or equal to current mark)
Category Record Active Player
Home Wins 8 Team, 8
Records Within Reach
Category Record Active Player
Digs 593 Bianca Rivera, 569
Points Per Game 5.06 Kelly Goc, 5.00
Team Wins 21 Team, 20
Team Assists/Game 15.06 Team, 14.81
Team Digs/Game 19.82 Team, 19.54
Team Blocks 307.5 Team, 275.0
Looming Milestones
Kelly Goc and Abby Baumann have tied Leah Ratzlaff (2002-05) for most matches played in CU history, with 115 matches played. When they enter the match on Friday they will make history.
Bianca Rivera needs 25 digs to pass Janeen Piller for most single-season digs in CU history. Piller had 593 digs in 2004.
Korie Lebeda needs 90 assists to pass Kailey Reyes (4,207 assists from 1998-01) for most in school history in a career.
Booth Nears 200th Win
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 199 career wins, 112 at Kirkwood Community College and 87 at Creighton. A win over Southern Illinois on Friday would be the 200th of her head coaching career.
Goc & Roll
Kelly Goc's .625 hitting percentage in last Friday's win over Drake was the best in Creighton history by an individual during a four-game match. The previous mark was .588 by JoDe Cieloha (22-2-34) on Nov. 2, 1996 against Evansville.
Goc finished the match with 26 kills and seven blocks. That made her the first player in the MVC to have 25 or more kills and five or more blocks in the same match this fall.
The performance helped Goc earn MVC Player of the Week honors
Revenge On The Mind
Should Creighton reach Friday night's semifinal, you can be sure revenge will on the mind of the Bluejay upperclassmen.
Northern Iowa, CU's potential opponent in that 7:30 pm match, has ended the Jays season in the semifinals each of the past two years.
Not The Top Seed...Not A Problem
Including the women's soccer team earlier this month, Creighton has now won 25 MVC Tournament titles since Bruce Rasmussen took over as Director of Athletics in 1994.
Interestingly, only six of those 25 teams were actually the No. 1 seed entering that tournament.
In fact, 13 of the last 14 times Creighton has won an MVC Tournament, they've done it without the benefit of being the top seed.
Below is the list of Creighton's last 14 MVC Tournament titles, as well as their seed entering the tournament:
Sport Year Seed
Women's Soccer 2007 3rd
Baseball 2007 2nd
Softball 2007 1st
Men's Basketball 2007 2nd
Men's Soccer 2006 2nd
Men's Soccer 2005 2nd
Women's Soccer 2005 2nd
Softball 2005 3rd
Men's Basketball 2005 3rd
Women's Soccer 2004 2nd
Softball 2004 2nd
Men's Basketball 2003 2nd
Softball 2003 4th
Men's Soccer 2002 2nd
Game 4 & 5 Success
Rare is the team that doesn't win its conference despite going undefeated in four- and five-game matches, but that's what Creighton did this fall.
The Bluejays had four conference losses, and in each case they were swept. Creighton was 8-1 in games four and five this year in MVC play, falling only to Drake (game four of its MVC opener).
Along Those Lines
Creighton is 17-0 when winning game one this year. Creighton is 19-0 when winning game three this year. Creighton is 7-0 this year when winning game four. Creighton is 2-0 this year when winning game five.
Switzerland of the Midwest
Creighton has been highly successful on neutral floors in recent times. The Jays are 3-0 at neutral sites this year and were 4-1 a year ago in venues where neither team had a home-court advantage.
Swings A'Plenty
Creighton is averaging a eye-popping 43.99 attacks per game this fall. According to the NCAA record book, only two teams have ever done that since the adoption of rally scoring in 2001.
Ball State's 2003 team owns the mark with 45.41 attacks per game, while Illinois State's 2006 club is second with 44.55 attacks per game.
The 2007 Illinois State team is averaging 45.52 attacks per game this year, a figure that would rewrite the top spot in the all-time NCAA record book.
Senior Stars
Creighton seniors Abby Baumann, Kelly Goc and Katie Mehal are making their fourth straight MVC Tournament appearance. Since the trio arrived Creighton has posted a 75-44 mark and been responsible for the top four single-season win totals in program history, including a pair of 20-win campaigns.
And Who Will Replace Them?
Though it'll be tough to replace Creighton's three outgoing seniors, coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth signed three high school seniors to letters-of-intent on Nov. 14 to join the program next fall.
Below is a look at the newest members of the Bluejay program:
Name Ht. Pos. Hometown
Karisa Almgren 6'2” OH Edmond, Okla.
Megan Bober 6'0” S Murdock, Neb.
Laurel Sanford 6'0” MB Eagan, Minn.
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.
It's worth noting that Creighton's dig numbers have increased from 19.42 digs per game last year to 19.54 digs per game this year. Additionally, Creighton's blocking has increased from 2.65 blocks per game last year to 2.78 blocks per game this fall.
20-Win Season, Again
With its win last Friday, Creighton reached the 20-win mark for a second straight 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's 14 wins in MVC play are also a school record, surpassing the 12 league victories in both 2001 and 2006.
All-Star Candidates?
Player of the Year candidate Kelly Goc owns 10 or more kills and has hit .240 or better in every MVC match but one this year.
Freshman of the Year candidate Allie Oelke owns at least nine kills in every MVC match this year but two, and has hit at least .065 in all but one MVC contest as well.
Not to be forgotten, Libero of the Year candidate Bianca Rivera has had at least 13 digs in every match but one this fall.
Getting Her Swings
Freshman Allie Oelke leads Creighton with 998 attack attempts. That's way more than any other freshman in Bluejay history, easily surpassing Melissa Walsh's 834 attempts in 1998.
Oelke's 307 digs are also the most in CU freshmen history.
Oelke's 322 kills are 20 shy of Melissa Walsh's CU freshman record total of 341 in 1998.
Goc Makes 101st Start
Kelly Goc owns 101 career starts at Creighton, making her the second player in recorded school history to reach 100 starts, joining Melissa Walsh (107 from 1998-01).
The senior has started each of Creighton's last 23 matches.
Playing The Best
Six of the nine losses Creighton has this season have come to teams that are ranked or receiving votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll.
The Bluejays are have lost once each to #2 Nebraska, #17 Cal Poly and #22 Wichita State, and also lost once to vote-getters Middle Tennessee and Minnesota.
The only teams to beat CU that aren't getting votes are former vote-getters Illinois, Northern Iowa and Missouri State.
Oelke's Been Consistent
Freshman Allie Oelke has been among Creighton's most consistent players all fall. Oelke has had seven or more kills and hit .065 or better in 17 of Creighton's 18 MVC matches.
Goc Looks For Third All-Tourney Award
Kelly Goc and is one of two players in Creighton history to twice earn all-MVC Tournament honors, having done so in both 2004 and 2006. She joins Melissa Walsh (1999 and 2000) as the only Bluejay with multiple accolades at the league championship.
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 20-9
Total 33-32 180-214
Baumann Comes Up Big, Again
Abby Baumann made her Senior Night a memorable one, coming up with 22 kills while hitting .541 in the 3-1 win over Drake.
The output was surprising when you consider that in the previous month (a span of eight matches), she had a combined output of 22 kills and had hit -.053 in those contests.
What's strange is that it's not the first time Baumann has done something like that this year.
Baumann had 20 kills in Creighton's first 13 matches this year before a career-best 24 kills in a 3-2 win at UNI on Sept. 21st.
A Big Win
Creighton's 30-9 game one victory over Indiana State on Oct. 26 was a record-setter that marked the Bluejays largest margin of victory in any game they've ever played.
The previous mark for fewest points allowed since the inception of rally scoring in 2001 had been a 30-11 victory over North Dakota State on Sept. 8, 2004.
Decker Returns To Starting Six
Carolyn Decker made her first two starts of the year on Oct. 26-27, and she turned in two of her best performances.
Decker had three kills and six digs against Indiana State before her breakthrough match one night later.
Against Illinois State, Decker had 10 kills and eight digs while hitting .281.
Three weeks ago Decker once again started twice. She had eight kills against Southern Illinois on Friday before posting a season-high 11 kills against Evansville on Sunday.
Two weeks ago, Decker had nine kills and a career-high six blocks in a four-game win over Missouri State.
Decker had started 35-of-36 career matches prior to coming off the bench in Creighton's first 22 contests this fall.
Road To Success
Creighton has found the road a better place to be in MVC play this fall. The Bluejays were 8-1 in MVC road matches this year, but were 6-3 in MVC home matches.
Below is a breakdown of Creighton's MVC matches in home and road matches this year.
Stat Home Road
Team Match W-L 6-3 8-1
Team Games W-L 18-12 24-9
Team Digs Per Game 22.60 19.33
Team Blocks Per Game 2.63 2.64
Team Hitting Percentage .233 .209
Opp. Hitting Percentage .151 .138
Oelke Kills Per Game 3.13 3.76
Bloemke Hit. Pct. .271 .282
Bloemke Blocks/Game 1.10 1.33
Rivera Digs 500
Junior libero Bianca Rivera owns 569 digs this season, a figure that places her second in Creighton's single-season history. Rivera needs 25 digs to pass Janeen Piller's record-breaking 2004 total of 593 digs during Creighton's second MVC Tournament match this fall.
Rivera's current 5.75 digs per game is far ahead of Piller's 5.59 digs per game single-season record from the 2004 campaign.
Creighton Digs, Season
Name Games No. Year
1. Janeen Piller 106 593 2004
2. Bianca Rivera 99 569 2007
3. Katie Mehal 115 488 2006
4. Janeen Piller 115 448 2003
5. Abby Baumann 116 441 2006
Creighton Digs Per Game, Season (Min. 200 digs)
Name Games No. Avg. Year
1. Bianca Rivera 99 569 5.75 2007
2. Janeen Piller 106 593 5.59 2004
3. Katie Mehal 115 488 4.24 2006
Most Digs in a Season, MVC History
Name, School No. Year
1. Julie Walroth, UE 656 2007
2. Adeana McAfee, MSU 654 2006
3. Julie Walroth, UE 634 2006
4. Stacey Besjak, BU 606 1985
5. Jane Parker, MSU 596 2004
6. Kelly Spisak, INS 595 2004
7. Janeen Piller, CU 593 2004
8. Ashley Grubb, ILS 581 2005
9. Kasey Mollerus, ILS 576 2006
10. Kristy Elswick, SIU 569 2006
Bianca Rivera, CU 569 2007
12. Kelly Broussard, WSU 566 2007
13. Ellie Blankenship, UNI 564 2007
14. Julie Groves, UE 558 1998
15. Diane Kruto, EIU 549 1990
Against Ranked Teams
A potential championship match contest against #22 Wichita State would give Creighton a chance to snap its 0-28 record against ranked opponents, including an 0-4 mark this fall. The Bluejays have never even played as much as a five-game match against a ranked opponent.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time
Date Opponent Result
09/01/98 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
09/04/98 vs. #19 Texas A&M (@Pacific) L 0-3
09/05/98 at #11 Pacific L 0-3
09/14/99 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
10/16/99 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/08/00 at #6 Hawai'i L 0-3
10/03/00 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara L 1-3
09/09/01 vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara (at Santa Clara) L 0-3
09/25/01 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/13/01 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
11/09/01 at #18 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/06/02 vs. #13 Pacific L 0-3
09/21/02 at #7 Northern Iowa L 1-3
09/29/02 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
10/18/02 #10 Northern Iowa L 0-3
10/04/03 at #10 Northern Iowa L 1-3
11/01/03 vs. #12 Northern Iowa L 1-3
10/10/04 vs. #5 Nebraska (North Platte, Neb.) L 0-3
09/06/05 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
09/10/05 vs. #3 Stanford (Boulder, Colo.) L 0-3
10/11/05 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/29/05 at #25 Wichita State L 1-3
09/24/06 #1 Nebraska L 1-3
08/31/07 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/02/07 #18 Cal Poly L 0-3
09/15/07 at #13 Minnesota L 1-3
11/10/07 at #24 Wichita State L 0-3
Random Trivia
Did you know that Creighton has never had a volleyball player graduate high school from the state of Missouri.
Goc Comfortable Against Bears, Redbirds
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.
Including that match, Goc has had 10 or more kills in 84 of the past 105 matches, including all eight meetings with Missouri State.
Goc has also given Illinois State all kinds of problems throughout her career. The Bluejay senior from Ralston had 20 or more kills in all three victories over the Redbirds last season, hitting over .300 each time.
Goc had exactly 20 kills in both meetings with ISU this year too, hitting .356 in Omaha and .385 in Normal.
In the last five matches against Illinois St., Goc has averaged 5.20 kills, 1.30 digs, 0.65 blocks and 0.30 aces per game while hitting .345.
Lebeda Passes 4,000 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 broke the 4,000 assist barrier on Nov. 9 in game two against Missouri State. That came in her 88th career match, and 311th career game. By comparison, it took Arganbright 96 matches and 324 games to get to 4,000 assists.
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 (43 matches, 152 games) and 3,000 career assists (65 matches, 231 games).
Below is Creighton's quickest players to reach 3,000 and 4,000 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
Matches to
Name 4,000 asts. Opponent
Korie Lebeda 88 11/9/07 at Missouri State
Kailey Reyes 97 11/9/01 at #18 Northern Iowa
Ain't Life Grand?
With her third assist on Nov. 2 against Southern Illinois, junior setter Korie Lebeda became the first player in school history to post 1,000 assists each of her first three seasons at Creighton.
The only other player in Bluejay history to have three seasons of 1,000 assists in her career had been Kailey Reyes, who did it her sophomore, junior and senior seasons (1999, 2000, ?01).
Goc Streak With 10+ Kills Reached 14
Kelly Goc streak of 14 straight matches of 10 or more kills was snapped on Oct. 20 against UNI. Below is the Creighton list of most consecutive matches with double-digit kills.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Kills
58 Leah Ratzlaff, Sept. 13, Sept. 9, 2005
19 JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 26-Nov. 21, 1997
14 Kelly Goc, Sept. 8-Oct. 19, 2007
13 JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 7-Oct. 18, 1996
12 Amanda Cvejdlik, Aug. 25-Sept. 19, 2006
Standings Make Sense
Creighton finished the year 14-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference, good for a tie for second in the league standings. The Bluejays went 0-2 against conference champion Wichita State. The Jays also split two matches each with the teams they tied for second with, UNI and Missouri State.
The Bluejays went 12-0 against the six teams below them in the league standings.
New Facility on the Way
Creighton broke ground for a new athletics center on October 16, to be located just northeast of Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium on the northeast corner of Webster Street and Florence Boulevard.
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. Creighton volleyball is expected to play there starting in 2009.
No Houts, No Matter
Creighton has won 16 of 21 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, five four-gamers and nine sweeps. Their only losses in that span was a four-game setback at #13 Minnesota and 3-0 losses to Valley rivals Wichita State (twice), Missouri State and Northern Iowa.
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 16-5
Team KPG 14.65 16.44
Team DPG 15.85 20.85
Team BPG 3.13 2.65
Goc KPG 3.37 4.49
Baumann KPG 0.75 2.08
Bloemke KPG 1.43 2.79
Oelke KPG 2.62 3.48
Rivera DPG 5.62 5.79
Schulze DPG 0.83 3.34
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 777 kills and 927 career digs. She is one of five players in program history to rank in the top-10 in both career kills and digs.
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 144 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.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 114-6 (.950) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 56-0 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 53-3 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-138 (.042) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-44 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
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 broadcasted 20 regular-season matches this season on KVSS (88.9 FM), and will also do all potential MVC Tournament and NCAA Tournament matches. The matches will also be streamed on-line at www.kvss.com.
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches were sold at all Ticketmaster outlets. Cost was $7 for adults and $4 for youth (18 years of age or younger) with children five and under admitted free. Season ticket information is always available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton sold approximately 380 season tickets for volleyball this year after selling 286 season tickets last year.
