Volleyball Heads To Gopher Invitational
9/13/2007 9:30:00 AM | Volleyball
This Weekend
Creighton (5-4, 1-0 MVC) concludes non-conference play with a trip to Minneapolis, Minn., this weekend for the Gopher Invitational.
The Bluejays will meet Green Bay (1-5) on Friday at 5 pm before a pair of matches on Saturday. CU plays Charlotte (8-2) at 10 am before taking on 13th-ranked Minnesota (4-3) at 7:30 pm in the tournament finale.
Minnesota's Sports Pavilion (5,700) will host the action.
Radio Broadcast Information
Creighton will not have radio coverage this weekend. Minnesota will have premium audio coverage of Saturday night's match against Creighton. Fans will need to buy a monthly subscription on Minnesota's site at www.gophersports.com and click on the Live Audio link. Cost is $9.95 per month.
Video Broadcast Information
There will not be any video webcasts available for this weekend's tournament.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the Gopher Invitational will have live stats. Go to Minnesota's athletics website at www.gophersports.com and click on the Live Stats link on the right side of the page. The live stats are free, and will also be linked to on Creighton's site at www.gocreighton.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 5-4 through nine matches this season, with seven of those matches coming against teams that were in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
Senior MB Kelly Goc, a preseason all-MVC selection leads the team with a .309 hitting percentage while ranking second with 3.33 kills per game. Also playing well in the early going has been Minnesota natives Jessica Houts and Allie Oelke. Houts (Bloomington, Minn.) leads the team with 3.35 kills per game and 1.65 blocks per game, while Oelke (Chaska, Minn.) tops the team with 18 aces and is second with 85 kills to date. Running the offense is junior setter Korie Lebeda, who averages 11.29 assists per game.
Controlling the defense has been libero Bianca Rivera, who averages 5.94 digs per game and tied a school-record with 38 digs in CU's five-game win at Drake on Tuesday.
Through nine matches, Creighton is averaging 14.32 kills, 1.58 aces, 15.94 digs and 2.95 blocks per game while hitting .188 as a club.
Scouting Green Bay
After starting 1-5, Green Bay had a rare weekend off as they prepared for this weekend's Gopher Invitational.
The Phoenix own a 3-0 win over Florida Atlantic, but lost to Siena, Robert Morris, Central Michigan, Drake and Furman.
Liesl Tesch averages a team-high 3.71 kills per game to lead UWGB. Holly Visser is second with 3.21 kills per game, though she has missed the past two matches.
Setting the Phoenix is Betty Slinger, who averages 10.55 assists. She also boasts 2.45 kills per game while hitting .377.
UWGB averages 15.27 kills, 1.73 aces, 15.68 digs and 1.89 blocks per game while hitting .170 as a team.
The Phoenix return 10 letterwinners and five starters from last year's squad that finished 15-15 and tied for second in the Horizon League.
Scouting Charlotte
After going 20-12 last year, Charlotte is 8-2 in 2007 and riding a four-match winning streak. The 49ers have faced just one of the nation's top-115 teams to date, a 3-2 loss to Eastern Michigan.
Cori Dayton (4.85 kpg., 2.74 dpg.) and Alma Arroyo (4.26 kpg., 3.26 dpg.) headline a potent offensive attack.
Eden Ramos averages 12.38 assists per game while also distributing the ball to a team that averages 15.41 kills and hits .233.
Heading the defense is libero Carly Romberg, who averages 5.00 digs per game.
Scouting #13 Minnesota
Ranked No. 13 nationally, Minnesota is 4-3 on the season with losses against nationally-ranked Stanford, Ohio and California.
The Gophers, who owned a 2-0 lead in the Elite Eight against eventual national champion Nebraska last year before falling, once again boast a deep and talented roster.
Freshman Brook Dieter, a former club teammate of Creighton's Allie Oelke, leads the team with 4.24 kills per game while also digging 2.76 balls per game.
Second on the club in kills is Papillion, Neb., native Kyla Roehrig, who averages 3.33 kills per game and averages 0.96 blocks per game.
Rachel Hartmann averages 12.12 assists per game, while Jessy Jones helps the Gopher defense by providing 1.60 blocks per game.
As a team, Minnesota averages 15.12 kills, 1.44 aces, 14.40 digs and 3.68 blocks per game while hitting .229.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 72-57 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.
Green Bay is coached by Debbie Kirch, who owns a 112-202 record in her 11th year at the school. She is assisted by Joseph Goodson.
Charlotte is coached by Chris Redding, who is 8-2 in his first year with the 49ers. He owns a career mark of 52-81 in five years and is assisted by Tara Taylor.
Minnesota is coached by AVCA Hall of Fame coach Mike Hebert, who owns a 287-101 record in his 12th year with the Gophers. He owns a career mark of 859-358 in 32 years, placing him fourth nationally among active coaches for victories. Hebert is assisted by Scott Swanson and Dave Manka.
Series History vs. Green Bay
Creighton is 2-1 all-time against Green Bay, but the teams have not met since 1999. Creighton lost a five-game battle the first times the teams met in 1995 in Milwaukee, Wis. The Jays swept UWGB in 1996 and 1999 in the past two meetings though.
Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth has never faced Green Bay or coach Debbie Kirch.
Series History vs. Charlotte
Creighton has never faced Charlotte.
Series History vs. Minnesota
Creighton has never faced Minnesota.
Last Match Summary
Creighton survived two match points to rally for a five-game road win, 30-23, 26-30, 30-20, 20-30, 17-15 at Drake on Tuesday. Allie Oelke had career-highs with 17 kills, 13 digs and four aces to spark the victory, including two straight aces to end the contest. Bianca Rivera tied a school-record with 38 digs for the Jays.
Club Reunion
One of the best club volleyball teams in the country over the years has been the Northern Lights program in Minnesota. This weekend will be a reunion of sorts, as all four teams at the Gopher Invitational have plenty of Northern Lights alums.
All three of Creighton's recent players from the Gopher State (Jessica Houts, Allie Oelke and alum Molly Lahr) played in the club.
Minnesota's products of the Northern Lights program include the freshmen trio of Hailey Cowles, Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer. That group teamed with Oelke to take second last summer and first in 2006 at the US Junior AAU Nationals.
Green Bay's current players who are alums of Northern Lights include Betty Slinger and Leah Steinbauer.
Charlotte junior Courtney Cowles, sister of Minnesota's Hailey Cowles, also played for Northern Lights.
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 72-0 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
Against Ranked Teams
Saturday night's contest against #13 Minnesota will give Creighton a chance to snap its 0-26 record against ranked opponents. 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
Double-Double Double
Creighton had a pair of players record their first double-doubles of the season on Tuesday 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.
Creighton has four different players with one double-double each this season.
By comparison, last year CU had three people combine for 38 double-doubles as Korie Lebeda (21), Abby Baumann (16) and Schulze (1) all had double-dimes.
Game Five Frenzy
Creighton is 17-4 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 1-0 5-4
Total 32-32 165-209
Statistically Speaking
Creighton can be found throughout the first edition of the NCAA statistics, which include matches through Sept. 9th.
As a team, Creighton ranked 20th in blocks per game, 101st in assists per game, 129th in kills per game, 147th in digs per game, 154th in winning percentage, 157th in hitting percentage and 181st in aces per game.
Individually, Creighton has five different players that rank in the top 500 of a category, as seen below:
Name Rank Stat
Jessica Houts 11th 1.65 blocks per game
Bianca Rivera 29th 5.62 digs per game
Korie Lebeda 102nd 11.34 assts. per game
Allie Oelke 104th 0.54 aces per game
Kelly Goc 135th .327 hitting pct.
Lauren Bloemke 171st 0.48 aces per game
Kelly Goc 214th 1.05 blocks per game
Kelly Goc 282nd 3.37 kills per game
Jessica Houts 292nd 3.35 kills per game
Jessica Houts 414th .250 hitting pct.
Jessica Houts 460th 0.65 assts. per game
Rivera Ties Digs Record
Bianca Rivera tied Creighton's school-record with 38 digs in Tuesday's 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 increased her season dig average to 5.94, good for second in the league.
Rivera Digging It
Bianca Rivera has proven to be a difference-maker on the defensive end just nine 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
Rivera now owns 184 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. In fact, with 16 digs on Friday against Green Bay she can reach 200 digs in her 10th match, also the fastest by far.
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
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
Melissa Weisensee 22 11/06/94 Southern Illinois
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 four Valley players have had 10 digs or more in every match this season, Rivera, Ellie Blankenship (UNI), Kristy Elswick (SIU) and Kelly Broussard (WSU).
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 got to five points in a game first are 21-9 this year and were 66-45 last year.
Games 1-4 Only
Milestone 2007 W-L 2006 W-L
When scoring 1st point 22-8 55-56
When getting to 5 pts first 21-9 66-45
When getting to 10 pts first 22-8 76-35
When getting to 15 pts first 29-1 85-26
When getting to 20 pts first 28-2 91-20
When getting to 25 pts first 27-3 98-13
Game 5's Only
Milestone 2007 W-L 2006 W-L
When scoring 1st point 1-0 4-2
When getting to 3 pts first 0-1 3-3
When getting to 5 pts first 0-1 4-2
When getting to 8 pts first 0-1 4-2
When getting to 10 pts first 0-1 4-2
When getting to 13 pts first 1-0 5-1
MVC Opener Histories
Thanks to Tuesday's 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, six teams will have already had their dreams shattered when this weekend ends.
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.
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 is the second All-Tournament Team honor this year for both women.
13,081 Is New 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.
Top Five Crowds
According to numbers calculated by Diane Nordstrom at the University of Wisconsin, Creighton ranks third nationally thus far with an average home attendance of 3,890 fans per game. Creighton is one of four MVC schools in the top-10 on her list, joining Wichita State, Northern Iowa and Illinois State.
2007 Volleyball Home Average Attendance Leaders
Rk. School Ave. Total Dates
1. Hawaii 6,435 51,483 8
2. Nebraska 5,930 29,652 5
3. Creighton 3,890 15,560 4
4. Minnesota 3,656 10,967 3
5. Wisconsin 3,609 10,827 3
6. Wichita State 3,254 9,762 3
7. Penn State 2,552 12,760 5
8. Northern Iowa 2,424 9,698 4
9. Texas 2,098 4,197 2
10. Illinois State 1,934 5,802 3
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 second on the team with 11 aces in only 88 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. The Chaska, Minn., native leads all MVC players with 0.58 aces per game and with 18 aces.
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.
Houts On The Double
Junior MB Jessica Houts had the first double-double of her career on Aug. 28, finishing with 14 kills and 10 blocks at Iowa State.
It was the 37th career match that Houts has had 10 or more kills, but first with 10 or more blocks. She's also had two matches with 10 digs or more, but never in the same match as one of her top offensive or blocking performances.
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 has now played in 13,144 of a possible 13,147 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.977 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 and Tennessee this year from that group.
Other NCAA qualifiers from 2006 include Middle Tennessee, Cal Poly, Minnesota, Northern Iowa (2) 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.
Creighton will get five more chances to beat NCAA winners from a year ago, including Minnesota, Northern Iowa (twice) and Missouri State (twice).
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 .309 hitting percentage and is second with 4.15 points per game and 3.33 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 nine 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.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 104-6 (.945) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 46-0 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 50-3 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 5-134 (.036) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-41 mark in those home matches. Those five 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
Freshman Get To Start
Creighton has started at least one freshman in 144 of its last 147 matches. The opening weekend of 2006 remains the only time since Sept. 20, 2002, that Creighton opened a match without a freshman starter.
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
Points 2nd 1,287.5
Points Per Game 3rd 4.04
Hitting Pct. 4th .273
Kills Per Game 4th 3.39
Kills 4th 1,080
Block Assists 6th 251
Attack Attempts 6th 2,673
Blocks 7th 283
Block Solos 7th 32
Blocks Per Game 8th 0.89
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 22-7 all-time when Abby Baumann reaches double-digit kills. Creighton is also 16-5 all-time when Baumann finishes with a double-double.
A more telling statistic revolves around Baumann's hitting percentage. CU is 24-0 in her career when she has 10 attacks or more and hits .208 or better, but just 36-39 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 58 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 52-6.
CU is 59-10 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 13-47 under Booth it they drop the first game.
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 39-47 in the 29 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including an 8-1 mark last year. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 23-16 in 14 regular-season tournaments.
After winning just one of its first 18 regular-season tournaments all-time (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic), the Jays have won five of its last 11 regular-season tournaments.
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
Sept. 21 at Northern Iowa
Sept. 28 Illinois State
Sept. 29 Indiana State
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.
