Volleyball Visits #12 Shockers, Bears To Open Second Half of MVC Season
10/21/2008 10:15:00 AM | Volleyball
This Weekend
Second-place Creighton (10-7, 7-2 MVC) opens the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference season this weekend when it makes the most difficult trip in the league.
Creighton opens the week on Friday with a match against first-place and No. 12 Wichita State (20-0, 9-0 MVC). First serve at Charles Koch Arena (10,400) is set for 7 pm in Wichita, Kan.
On Saturday, Creighton plays at fourth-place Missouri State (15-7, 6-3 MVC) in a 6 pm match. That contest will be held at Hammons Student Center (8,846) in Springfield, Mo.
Radio Broadcast Information
Both of Creighton's matches this weekend will be broadcast on KVSS (88.9 FM), as well as on http://www.kvss.com. Brad Burwell and Rob Anderson will announce.
Video Webcast Information
Friday's match will be video webcast and can be seen at goshockers.com. Subscribers to Creighton's season volleyball webcast package will see the match for no additional charge by logging in through gocreighton.com.
Other fans will need to sign up to buy a single month for $12.95 by clicking on the “Sign Up Now” graphic below the video box on the top right of the page at goshockers.com.
Missouri State does not video webcast volleyball.
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 for links the exact link.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 10-7 this season and 7-2 in the MVC while playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to date. Five of the seven teams Creighton has lost to are getting votes in this week's AVCA poll, with preseason No. 18 Iowa State and No. 21 LSU the lone exceptions.
Junior MB Jessica Houts leads the team in kills per set (3.41) and blocks per set (1.19) while also hitting at the .300 mark. She is the only MVC player to rank in the top six of each category.
Senior S Korie Lebeda (10.51 aps.) ranks ninth in MVC history with a Creighton-record 4,884 assists. She's posted a double-double in eight of nine Valley matches to date and is a two-time all-MVC first-team selection.
Two other seniors playing a key role offensively are Amanda Cvejdlik (2.90 kps.) and Carolyn Decker (2.57 kps., 2.46 dps.).
Defensively, senior libero Bianca Rivera (4.38 dps.) set school records for single-season digs and digs per set last fall. She owns 10 or more digs in 43 of 48 career matches at Creighton, reaching 21 or more digs on 20 occasions.
Coming off back-to-back 21-10 seasons, Creighton was picked third in the preseason MVC poll.
Creighton hits .229 as a team and averages 13.22 kills, 0.98 aces, 16.27 digs and 2.53 blocks per set.
Scouting No. 12 Wichita State
The nation's No. 12 team, Wichita State is 20-0 this season and leads the MVC with a perfect 9-0 mark. To stay unbeaten, the Shockers have walked a tightrope, surviving two match points vs. Ohio State, rallying from an 0-2 deficit twice and winning in five sets on four occasions.
The Shockers are 9-0 at home, where they average 2,812 fans per game (8th nationally) and have attracted at least 2,200 fans each match.
Junior OH Emily Stockman, a frontrunner for MVC Player of the Year honors, leads the Shockers with 3.69 kills and 0.30 aces per set. The former Winthrop transfer is also second on the club with 2.86 digs per set.
Junior OH Lindsey Eckenrode is second on the team with 2.54 kills per set, while sophomore MB Sarah McGee also averages 2.06 kills and a team-best 1.26 blocks per set.
The Shocker offense runs through true freshman Mary Elizabeth Hooper, who averages 10.32 assists, 2.10 digs and 1.31 kills per set while hitting .279.
Leading the Shocker defense has been senior L Kelly Broussard (5.31 dps.). Broussard had 43 digs last Friday in a win over UNI and ranks third in MVC history with 1,955 career digs.
As a team, Wichita State averages 13.37 kills, 1.23 aces, 16.82 digs and 2.44 blocks per set while hitting .239.
Scouting Missouri State
Despite massive losses to graduation, Missouri State has kept on winning and enters this weekend with a 15-7 overall record and 6-3 Valley mark.
The Bears have won seven of eight matches since a 3-1 loss at Creighton on Sept. 26th, including a 3-1 win over UNI last Saturday night.
Four MSU players average at least two kills, paced by Sara Staubach (3.00 kps.) and Addie Foley (2.96 kps.).
Another player to keep an eye on is Cara Hackmann (2.56 kps., 2.70 dps., 1.00 bps.), the only player in the MVC to average at least two kills, two digs and a block per set.
Setting for MSU is Ashley Kell (9.25 aps.), though Julia Cawthra (3.84 aps.) also sees time.
The Bears average 13.14 kills, 1.05 aces, 15.57 digs and 2.56 blocks per set while hitting .225 as a team.
Series History vs. No. 12 Wichita State
Wichita State owns a narrow 17-14 lead in 31 all-time meetings with Creighton. The Shockers are 9-5 in Wichita in those contests.
Each of CU's last three wins over the Shockers have been five-set matches, including a five-setter at Koch Arena in 2006 that saw the Jays survive three WSU match points.
The first set winner of the CU-WSU match has won nine straight meetings and 13 of the past 14 match-ups. Additionally, Wichita State has won 14 straight third sets against the Bluejays.
Booth is 3-9 vs. Wichita State and Chris Lamb, while Lamb is 11-7 vs. Creighton all-time.
Series History vs. Missouri State
Missouri State leads the all-time series with Creighton by a 25-5 margin, including a 12-2 mark in Springfield. The Bears had won 19 straight over CU before the Jays won in Springfield last November 9th to start its current two-match win streak vs. MSU.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-9 all-time vs. MSU and Melissa Stokes, while Stokes is 21-5 in her career vs. the Bluejays.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 98-70 record in her sixth season with the Bluejays. She became the program's all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007 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, assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Adam Ybarra. Three-time MVC Coach of the Year Chris Lamb is in his ninth season with Wichita State. Lamb owns a 183-84 record, all with the Shockers, and led WSU to the second round of the 2004 and 2007 NCAA Tournaments. He is assisted by his wife, Shannon Lamb, and Jeff Sanders.
Melissa Stokes is in her 13th season at Missouri State, where she owns a 285-129 record. She has led MSU to four NCAA Tournaments in the last five years. Jeni Jones and Leah Johnson are assistant coaches.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton increased its win streak to four with wins over Evansville (3-0) and Southern Illinois (3-1) last weekend in Omaha. Seniors Carolyn Decker and Korie Lebeda had double-doubles in both wins to lead the Bluejays.
Long, Difficult Trip
There's multiple reasons that the Wichita State/Missouri State road swing is considered the league's most difficult.
In the past six years, teams from either Wichita State or Missouri State (or both) have made the NCAA Tournament, a trend that WSU will continue (and possibly MSU too) this year.
In the last six years, Wichita State is 146-32 overall and 89-10 in MVC contests. Missouri State is 141-49 overall and 79-20 in MVC contests. Fourteen of their losses were against either WSU/MSU, including 11 in MVC play.
In the last six years, Wichita State is 66-11 at home overall and 44-6 in MVC home contests. Missouri State is 75-12 at home overall and 42-7 in MVC home contests. Six of the 13 MVC home losses came when MSU or WSU beat the other on its home floor.
Another difficult part of the trip is the distance between the schools is 272 miles, which can mean a 4-5 hour trip after a match. Often times, the visiting team will not arrive until the wee hours of Saturday morning, sometimes as late as 2 or 3 am.
Since 2003, the only team to win at both Wichita State and Missouri State on the same road trip was Illinois State, which did it Nov. 17-18, 2006.
Last 5+ Years (2003-Present)
Category WSU MSU CU
Overall W-L 146-32 141-49 98-70
MVC W-L 89-10 79-20 62-37
Overall Home W-L 66-11 75-12 40-29
MVC Home W-L 44-6 42-7 31-19
NCAA Trips 3 4 0
TGIF
Creighton will look to extend its Friday road win streak this weekend when it visits Wichita State.
The Jays have won 11 straight Friday road matches in MVC play dating to an October 28, 2005 loss at Missouri State.
Creighton is 16-6 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 14-11 in MVC road matches played on Saturday. The Jays are also 0-1 in MVC Sunday road matches and 1-0 in MVC Tuesday road matches under Booth.
Tourney Preview?
Creighton will get its first look this fall at Charles Koch Arena on Friday, but it likely won't be the last match they play at the venue.
The facility will also play host to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, Nov. 27-29.
Road Warriors
It's difficult to pinpoint the reason, but Creighton has traditionally played better volleyball when on the road in recent seasons.
In six years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Creighton owns a 40-29 record at home (.580), but are an even better 58-41 (.586) in matches played on the road or at neutral sites.
This surprising record of success even holds up in league play, where the Jays play each opponent once each at home and on the road every fall. Under Booth, CU is 31-19 at home but 31-18 on the road in league action. Last year Creighton went 8-1 on the road in MVC play.
The Jays were also a perfect 6-0 last year away from home in matches against unranked teams with 1,000 or more fans in attendance.
Each of the past two years, CU has been 8-5 at home in all matches but 9-4 in true road contests.
Creighton is 11-2 in the past two years in road MVC matches.
Offense vs. Defense
Friday's tilt in Wichita will feature the league's top-ranked offense (Creighton) against the league's top-ranked defense (Wichita State).
In MVC only matches, the Bluejays are first in the league in attack percentage (.250), kills per set (14.09) and assists per set (13.09).
The Shockers rank first in opponents hitting percentage, holding foes to a .047 mark, and also lead the way with 2.95 blocks per set.
Countdown To 1,000 Kills
Junior Jessica Houts enters this weekend with 955 kills, which gives her an outside chance of reaching the 1,000 mark this weekend. She is currently tied for sixth in CU history, but will likely move past Erin Swanson and Shelly Kapler later this year.
Houts, who has played in 85 career matches, has never put together more than 40 kills in consecutive matches.
Career Kills
Name Games No. Years
1. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
2. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
3. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
4. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
5. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
6. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
6. Jessica Houts 299 955 2005-Pr.
8. Ashley Williams 359 941 2001-04
9. Amanda Cvejdlik 306 911 2005-Pr.
10. Michelle Prorock 299 815 1994-96
Korie, Korie, Korie
Korie Lebeda has started all 109 matches since coming to campus, passing Melissa Walsh's (1998-01) former record of 107 career starts.
With 391 career sets played, Lebeda remains on pace to shatter the school record of 411 sets played by Melissa Weisensee (1994-97) in the final six weeks of the season.
Lebeda has already joined Weisensee and Kailey Reyes as the third player in Creighton history with more than 1,000 assists and digs.
She enters this weekend with 4,884 career assists (ninth in MVC history) and 1,021 career digs.
Lebeda has done her work in 391 sets, averaging 12.49 aps., while No. 7 on the list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey, has averaged 12.10 aps., but has played in significantly more (420) sets.
Most Assists, MVC History
Rk. Assists Name, School Years
1. 6,064 Jill Arganbright, UNI 2000-03
2. 5,614 Marisa Brickley, ILS 1995-98
3. 5,431 Chenille Bayless, MSU 2000-03
4. 5,137 Megan Mirs, INS 1998-01
5. 5,084 Erin Lindsey, ILS 2005-Pres.
6. 5,067 Betsy Knott, UE 1995-98
7. 5,057 Debbie Barr, SIU 1996-99
8. 4,957 Kelly Hanson, DU 1993-96
9. 4,884 Korie Lebeda, CU 2005-Pres.
10. 4,881 Shannon Perry, UNI 1996-99
Leave it to Lebeda
Korie Lebeda enters this weekend with 4,884 career assists, 1,021 digs, 372 kills and 256 blocks.
She is one of three players in MVC history with at least 4,800 assists, 1,000 digs, 350 kills and 250 blocks. The other two were Jill Arganbright (UNI, 2000-03) and Chenille Bayless (MSU, 2000-03).
Name, School Ast. K D B
Jill Arganbright, UNI 6,064 605 1,025 300
Chenille Bayless, MSU 5,431 469 1,213 271
Korie Lebeda, CU 4,884 372 1,021 256
Searching For 100
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 98 career wins and can become the first Bluejay volleyball coach to 100 with wins this weekend at both Wichita State and Missouri State. Now in her sixth year, Booth is 98-70 with the Bluejays.
By comparison, highly successful Creighton men's basketball coach Dana Altman needed 178 games to reach 100 wins with the Bluejays.
Below is a list of games/matches needed by some of Creighton's most prominent active coaches to reach 100 wins.
Coach Sport Games to 100 Wins
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 141
Ed Servais Baseball 146
Jim Flanery Women's Basketball 175
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 178
Bruce Erickson Women's Soccer 197
Brent Vigness Softball 200
The Ranks of the Unbeaten
No. 12 Wichita State (20-0) remains one of three undefeated teams nationally along with No.1 Penn State (20-0) and No. 2 Nebraska (18-0 before Wednesday).
Since Creighton restarted volleyball in 1994, the program owns 13 wins over undefeated teams. However, all but two of those teams had played one or fewer matches, and CU has never beaten an unbeaten team with more than four wins.
Creighton VB Wins Over Undefeated Teams
4-0 Jacksonville State 2006
2-0 New Mexico 2004
1-0 Murray State 1996
1-0 UMKC 1997
1-0 Gonzaga 1999
1-0 Idaho 2000
1-0 UC Riverside 2005
1-0 Montana State 2006
0-0 Chattanooga 1994
0-0 Iowa State 2000
0-0 Montana 2004
0-0 Northern Colorado 2005
0-0 Nevada 2006
All-Time vs. Ranked Foes
Creighton is 0-32 all-time against ranked teams, including an 0-4 record this year. The Jays have faced a ranked Wichita State team on three occasions, losing a pair of four-setters and one three-set match against the Shockers.
A complete list of Creighton's results against ranked teams can be found on the left-column of this page.
Happy Birthday!
A pair of Bluejay seniors will celebrate a birthday this weekend. Bianca Rivera turns 21 on Friday, while Korie Lebeda turns 22 on Saturday.
Creighton is 2-0 when members of its current team play on their birthday, winning a pair of five-set road matches on Amanda Cvejdlik's Nov. 18 birthday.
The Bluejays beat Evansville on the road in five sets on Nov. 18, 2006, one year after beating UNI in five sets on Nov. 18, 2005. In both cases, Cvejdlik had at least 13 kills to help CU's cause.
Better To Receive?
Creighton's serve receive defense has picked up during its recent five-match win streak in MVC play. The Jays have allowed just eight aces in 304 serves over 18 sets during its current winning streak. Bianca Rivera has handled 112 serves in that time without allowing an ace.
Compare This
Creighton owns a 7-2 record in MVC play after a 3-5 non-conference mark this fall. The Jays were also 7-2 last year at the halfway point of the MVC (when sets were played to 30), but as you can see from the stats, the numbers have greatly improved in key categories such as hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage and digs per set.
Stat ?08 Non-Con ?08 MVC ?07 MVC
W-L Record 3-5 7-2 7-2
KPS 12.21 14.09 16.75
Hitting Pct. .202 .250 .205
Opp. Hit % .174 .147 .156
SAPS .97 1.00 1.28
DPS 14.79 17.53 20.91
BPS 2.57 2.50 2.05
Digger's Hotline
Senior libero Bianca Rivera owns 16 or more digs in each of Creighton's last nine matches, including five performances of 20 digs or more. She is averaging 5.64 digs per set in the last nine matches.
Rivera owns 21 career matches of 20 or more digs, most in Bluejay history.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
21 Bianca Rivera 2007-Pres.
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
Aces Away
Creighton served up a season-high seven aces last Saturday in a four-set win over Southern Illinois. The Bluejays are 8-0 this year and 75-17 under coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up more aces than their opponent in a match.
Taking The Fifth
Should Friday night's match at Wichita State head to a fifth set, it's bound to be a barn-burner.
Creighton is 19-6 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in five-set matches, including a 3-0 mark against Wichita State.
Wichita State is 4-0 in five-set matches this fall, including last Friday's win over UNI that kept it in first place.
Five in a Row
Creighton has won five MVC matches in a row since falling to Wichita State on Sept. 27.
Last year CU's record-tying streak of nine straight MVC wins was snapped on Oct. 6th with a 3-0 loss at Wichita State.
Random Facts
Here's a collection of random facts about Creighton Volleyball.
Bianca Rivera has successfully handled all 97 serve receptions she's had in the past four matches. Forty-three of those were converted directly into kills, well above the team average of 35.5 percent for the season. Rivera has handled 219 serves in conference play, and allowed just one ace.
Creighton is 17-1 all-time when sophomore Allie Oelke hits .168 or better, including 14 straight wins.
Creighton is 7-1 this year and 12-1 in the past four years when Carolyn Decker has 10 kills or more.
Melanie Feldman owns 56 consecutive serves without an ace or service error dating to her final serve attempt against Iowa State on Sept. 2nd.
Korie Lebeda's zero-kill effort against Wichita State on Sept. 27th is the only match in the past three years that she did not have a kill.
Lebeda has played in 68 wins in her career. That trails only former teammates Kelly Goc and Abby Baumann, who each played in 73 wins from 2004-07 with the Jays.
Creighton is 0-6 this season in sets in which it makes nine or more attack errors.
Creighton has given up more than two aces in the same set just once all season (set three vs. Minnesota).
Houts & Rivera Honored By MVC
Jessica Houts and Bianca Rivera were honored on Oct. 13 by the Missouri Valley Conference as its Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. Houts also earned Prairie Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors two days later for her accomplishments.
A junior middle blocker from Bloomington, Minn., Houts led Creighton in hitting percentage (.407), points (4.38), kills (3.62), blocks (0.88) and aces (0.25) per set last week as the Bluejays picked up road wins at Illinois State (3-2) and Indiana State (3-0). The wins completed CU's first undefeated weekend of the fall and moved the team over .500 (8-7) for the first time this season. Houts owns a 3.417 GPA in Exercise Science.
Rivera is a senior libero from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She averaged 4.62 digs and added seven assists in Creighton's two victories. She had a match-high 21 digs in the win at Illinois State, her school-record-tying 20th career match with 20 or more digs.
Full Houts
Jessica Houts has had at least seven kills, seven blocks and seven digs in the same match during four of Creighton's nine MVC matches to date.
By comparison, the rest of the MVC has put up just one such match of 7-7-7 in league play, the 11-kill, 18-dig, eight-block outing by Bradley's Kaitlyn Comiskey on Oct. 3, 2008 vs. Southern Illinois.
7+ Kills, 7+Digs, 7+Blocks in an MVC Match, 2008
Name, School SETS K D B Date
Jessica Houts, CU 4 17 8 7 9/26
Jessica Houts, CU 4 15 8 7 9/27
Kaitlyn Comiskey, BU 5 11 18 8 10/3
Jessica Houts, CU 5 17 7 7 10/10
Jessica Houts, CU 3 7 10 9 10/17
Oelke Gets Untracked
Sophomore OH Allie Oelke has posted 10 or more kills in three of the last four matches after doing so just twice in the team's first 13 contests.
Oelke had 10 kills or more in 22 of 31 matches as a freshman, including a streak of nine straight from Sept. 8 to Sept. 29 last season.
Computer Math
The volleyball-specific site at richkern.com has published its sixth computer rankings of the fall.
Creighton is ranked No. 46 in the “Pablo” rankings, third-best in the MVC behind Wichita State (16) and UNI (44) and one of five MVC schools to crack the top-100.
Creighton's strength of schedule, based on the average of an opponents RPI, is rated 40th-toughest nationally and eighth-best when only non-conference matches are factored in.
Creighton is 5-0 against teams with a computer ranking of 110 or worse, and 5-7 against teams in the top-109 nationally.
More Computer Rankings
The NCAA has come out with its official RPI, and it also recognizes the performance of Creighton to date. The NCAA's RPI, which included matches through Oct. 12th, ranks Creighton 52nd nationally.
Last year, when the NCAA Tournament selected four MVC teams, Creighton finished the year with an RPI of 56. Ironically, the team that finished the year with an RPI of 52 was Illinois State, a club that some believe was granted the final at-large bid over Creighton.
Below is a data compiled from RichKern.com that shows the RPI of the worst-ranked at-large team to reach the NCAA, as well as the best RPI to be omitted, in NCAA Tournaments since 2001.
Year Worst At-Large RPI Best RPI Omitted
2007 52, Illinois State 37, Tulane
2006 65, Alabama 36, Illinois
2005 67, Nevada 37, Wichita State
2004 92, Idaho 38, Duke
2003 86, Idaho 41, Wis.-Milwaukee
2002 65, Indiana 18, Arkansas
2001 81, San Diego State 33, South Florida
According to the official RPI, Creighton is 5-7 against the top-100 teams, and 5-0 against teams ranked 101 and higher.
Rounding Second, Headed For Home
Creighton went 7-2 in the first half of the MVC season for the third straight fall, matching their best record at the Valley midway point ever. The Jays also went 7-2 in the second half of the MVC season last year.
Creighton has had a winning record at the midway point of conference play on eight previous occasions, and qualified for the MVC Tournament each time.
League Record by Year
Year 1st Half 2nd Half MVC Finish
2008 7-2 ??? ???
2007 7-2 7-2 T-2nd
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 68-69 56-72 --
Record Watches
Carolyn Decker served up an ace against Southern Illinois to move her team-high total to 15 this fall. Decker now owns 81 career aces, fifth-most in Creighton history.
Senior libero Bianca Rivera has moved into the top-10 in school history as well. Rivera enters the weekend with 894 digs, ninth-most in CU history. Rivera, who owns 276 digs this year, remains on pace become the sixth player in Bluejay history with 1,000 or more digs.
Additionally, Jessica Houts has 383 career blocks and has moved into third on the school's all-time total blocks list, passing Melissa Walsh.
A Sign For Optimism
Creighton needs to only look back 12 months to find the last MVC team to start 6-7 and reach the NCAA Tournament.
Last fall, Northern Iowa started 6-7 and were at the .500 mark (9-9) as late as October 8th. The Panthers got hot after a crushing five-set loss at Illinois State (losing 35-33 in set four and 21-19 in set five...blowing eight match points overall). That heartbreaking loss dropped UNI to 0-5 in five-set matches in 2007. Northern Iowa would win 10 of its final 11 regular-season MVC matches, win the MVC Tournament, and reach the NCAA Tournament.
Like UNI last year, this year's Creighton team has come agonizingly close to big wins early in the season and struggled to close out five-set matches. However, this year's Bluejay squad also boasts the talent, drive and experience that helped turn around last fall's Panther team.
Top Crowds of 2008
Creighton hosted 8,037 fans at Qwest Center Omaha for its Oct. 5 match against No. 2 Nebraska. The crowd is the fifth-largest in the country this fall, the third largest home crowd in Creighton history, and also the third-largest crowd in MVC history. Below is a list of the nation's top crowds of 2008, as compiled by Diane Nordstrom in the Wisconsin's Sports Information Office:
Largest Crowds of 2008, Nationally
Rank Att. Match, Date
1. 13,412 LSU at Nebraska, 9/12
2. 10,570 Wisconsin at Purdue, 10/17
3. 10,126 Penn State at Minnesota, 10/11
4. 8,399 Runza/AVCA Showcase, 8/31
5. 8,037 Nebraska at Creighton, 10/5
Creighton's Largest Home Crowds, All-Time
Rank Att. Opponent Date
1. 13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07
2. 12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06
3. 8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08
Largest Home Crowds, MVC History
Rank Att. Match Date
1. 13,081 #18 Cal Poly at Creighton 09/02/07
2. 12,112 #1 Nebraska at Creighton 09/24/06
3. 8,037 #2 Nebraska at Creighton 10/05/08
4. 6,122 Missouri State at Wichita St. 11/02/07
5. 6,024 Kansas State at Wichita St. 08/25/07
Attendance Rankings
Creighton averages 1,536 fans per home match, good enough to rank 20th in this week's edition of the national leaders in volleyball attendance.
Last year Creighton finished 14th nationally in attendance and in 2006 the Jays were tied for 16th. Below is a look at the national leaders, through matches of October 19th:
Top Average Home Attendance, 2008
Rk. School Avg.
1. Hawaii 6,232
2. Nebraska 5,295
3. Wisconsin 4,139
4. Minnesota 4,019
5. Purdue 3,205
6. Penn State 3,173
7. Michigan State 2,867
8. Wichita State 2,812
9. Florida 2,798
10. Colorado State 2,587
11. Stanford 2,302
12. Texas 2,216
13. Southern California 1,945
14. Missouri 1,868
15. New Mexico State 1,718
16. Georgia Tech 1,696
17. Iowa State 1,695
18. Texas A&M 1,688
19. Washington 1,608
20. Creighton 1,536
Houts Keeps It Going
Jessica Houts continued her strong play with 13 kills and seven blocks against Drake on October 3rd.
That gave her three straight contests with seven blocks or more.
She became the first Bluejay with three straight matches of seven or more blocks since Houts herself accomplished the identical feat on Oct. 15-22, 2005 of her freshman campaign.
The only other player in CU history with three straight matches of seven or more blocks is JoDe Cieloha, who had three straight matches from Sept. 13-15, 1996.
Lebeda Keeps Doubling Up
Senior setter Korie Lebeda streak of six consecutive double-doubles was snapped when she had 24 assists and eight digs against Nebraska on Oct. 5.
Lebeda's streak was tied for fourth-longest in school history, and just two behind Melissa Walsh's school mark of eight in a row set in 2000.
Lebeda's 49 career double-doubles is fourth-most in Bluejay history, 16 behind Melissa Weisensee's record of 65 from 1994-97.
Matches With A Double-Double, Career
D-D Name Years
65 Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
64 Kailey Reyes 1998-01
60 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
49 Korie Lebeda 2005-Pres.
35 Erin Swanson 1998-01
Amazing Amanda
After posting just 88 kills during her junior season, senior OH Amanda Cvejdlik appears to have regained the form that saw her post 415 kills as a sophomore. Cvejdlik owns 183 kills this season and has had six or more kills in 16 straight matches.
Her 17 kills against Missouri State on Sept. 26 were her most in a match since Oct. 7, 2006, when she had 20 putaways versus Bradley.
Cvejdlik hammered 15 kills in 21 errorless swings on October 3rd against Drake, good for a .714 hitting percentage. The .714 hitting percentage was best in school history for a single match by a player with 15 or more kills.
Hot Hitting Night
Creighton's .414 hitting on October 3rd against Drake was a season-high and tied for the fourth-best performance in school history, as seen below:
Attack Percentage
Three Games
.536 vs. Tulsa (41-4-69) (3 sets) 10-27-95
.495 vs. Liberty (57-8-99) (3 sets) 9-2-05
.418 vs. Evansville (98-21-184) (4 sets) 11-2-96
.414 vs. UC-Riverside (57-11-111) (3 sets) 9-2-05
.414 vs. Drake (49-8-99) (3 sets) 10-3-08
NCAA Tourney Gauntlet is Over
Creighton's October 10th match at Illinois State closed a stretch that saw Creighton face five NCAA Tournament teams in a six-match span. In addition to UNI, Creighton also played qualifiers Missouri State, Wichita State, Nebraska and Illinois State in those three weeks. Drake was the only exception during this span.
The First 1,500 Sets Are The Toughest
Creighton has played 1,513 sets since bringing back volleyball in 1994, winning 713 of those.
Below is a look at Creighton's record by sets, in increments of 500.
Set #'s Dates W-L
1-500 9/2/94 to 11/14/98 (S2) 199-301
501-1000 11/14/98 (S3) to 11/15/03 (S1) 216-284
1001-1500 11/15/03 (S2) to 10/10/08 (S2) 287-213
1501-Pres. 10/10/08 (S3) to Present 11-2
All We Need Is One
Did you know that the team that scores the first point of a set has won 40 of Creighton's 63 sets played this season, including 23 of the last 33.
So Close, Yet So Far
One of the hallmarks of past Creighton teams has been the ability to pull out a key point when things get tight late in a set or match.
This year's team has seen that trend reverse, as Creighton continues to be snakebit in some of its narrow losses against the nation's elite.
In Creighton's 3-1 loss to No. 14 Wichita State on Sept. 27, the Jays lost a pair of sets decided by two points. Likewise, in its 3-1 loss the previous Saturday at Northern Iowa, CU also dropped two sets decided by two points. Creighton also lost by a 16-14 fifth set score to UAB earlier this year in its final non-conference loss.
On the season, Creighton is 3-7 in sets decided by the minimum two points but has dropped its last five such sets. Below is a comparison of Creighton, Missouri State, Northern Iowa and MVC leader Wichita State.
Match Set 2-Pt. Sets
Team W-L W-L W-L
Wichita State 20-0 60-11 11-4
Northern Iowa 17-4 54-17 10-4
Missouri State 15-7 53-31 14-6
Creighton 10-7 37-26 3-7
Stats Don't Equal Win
Creighton lost in four sets at Northern Iowa on Sept. 20th despite winning nearly every statistical category. The Bluejays scored three more points (94-91), had a better hitting percentage (.244 to .219) and also had more kills (61-56), digs (80-61) and blocks (9-8) than the Panthers. Creighton had won 80 consecutive matches when owning a better hitting percentage than its opponent.
Freshman Starting Streak Snapped at 107
Creighton had started at least one true freshman in 107 consecutive MVC matches before the streak was snapped on Sept. 26 against Missouri State. Before then, the last time CU didn't start a true freshman in an MVC match was Sept. 21, 2002 in a match at Northern Iowa.
Ike 1, Creighton 0
Creighton was idle on Sept. 12-13 after the Ladyjack Invitational, scheduled for Nacogdoches, Texas, was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike.
It marked the first time since Creighton brought back volleyball in 1994 that the Jays had more than 10 days off in between matches while in-season.
MVC Opener Histories
Creighton now owns an 8-7 record all-time in Missouri Valley Conference openers, including two straight wins and a 5-1 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. In the seven previous seasons that Creighton won its MVC opener, it has never finished worse than 9-9 in league play and owns a combined .603 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.
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.
Even better for Creighton, each of the last two eventual regular-season champions opened the MVC season against Bradley.
Home Losses Are Also Devastating
The 2006 Northern Iowa and 2007 Wichita State teams are the only programs in MVC history to lose a home conference match and still win the regular-season title outright in that same season.
It's also worth noting that 13 of the last 14 regular-season MVC champions finished the year with one regular-season loss or fewer. The exception was that 2006 UNI team that was 16-2, with both losses coming against Wichita State.
Houts Playing Strong, One Year Later
September 11th marked the one-year anniversary of Jessica Houts' tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, which was suffered prior to a 2007 match at Drake. Houts had surgery 10 days later and returned to the court in the spring.
This fall, Houts has been nothing short of spectacular. She's been named to the All-Tournament Team at both events CU has played in, and leads the squad in kills per set (3.41) and blocks per set (1.19) while also ranking second with a .300 hitting percentage.
Lebeda Still Going Strong
Senior setter Korie Lebeda has made 109 consecutive starts. The two-time all-Valley pick has participated in all but 12 points since arriving at Creighton in 2005. Creighton is 68-41 with Lebeda as a starter after going 47-65 in the four years before she arrived on campus.
Decking The Competition
Fifth-year senior Carolyn Decker owns eight different matches with 10 or more kills this season, including all three contests at the Gamecock Invitational. Decker owned just five total matches with 10 or more kills from 2005-07 while battling through a pair of season-ending injuries.
Dominant Defense
Creighton's 25-12, 25-15, 25-12 win over Jacksonville State on Sept. 5th ranked among the most impressive victories in school history. Creighton held JSU to a -.112 attack percentage, the lowest mark ever by a Bluejay opponent.
Additionally, the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Jacksonville State team did not record an ace and were outblocked 15-0.
Below is the lowest hitting percentages ever by a Creighton opponent:
Lowest Opp. Hitting Pct. vs. Creighton, Match
Pct. Team K E TA Date
-.112 Jacksonville St. 18 27 80 9/5/08
-.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
-.010 Indiana State 21 22 105 10/26/07
-.008 UMKC 29 30 125 10/24/00
-.007 Wichita State 27 28 135 10/21/95
Difficult Schedule Continues
Nine of Creighton's first 14 matches this season were against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, and three other opponents in that time won 20 or more matches or their regular-season title last year.
Opponent ?07 W-L ?07 Postseason
Minnesota 18-13 NCAA
LSU* 25-8 NCAA
Texas A&M 21-10 --
Iowa State 19-14 NCAA
Jacksonville State* 18-10 --
UAB 24-10 --
Mississippi 25-8 --
Bradley 3-28
Northern Iowa* 22-11 NCAA
Missouri State 25-8 NCAA
Wichita State* 27-6 NCAA
Drake 7-23 --
Nebraska* 30-2 NCAA
Illinois State 21-12 NCAA
*Won regular-season or conference tournament title
Houts Named To All-Tourney Team
Making her return from a torn ACL that cost her most of last season, Jessica Houts averaged 3.55 kills and 0.91 blocks per set to earn all-Tournament Team honors at the Bluejay Invitational on Aug. 29-30.
Houts led CU with 13 kills, eight digs and .346 in the season-opener against No. 16 Minnesota. She followed that up with a team-best 18 kills and six digs in a five-set loss against No. 21 LSU. She also added eight kills and four blocks in a sweep of Texas A&M, a team picked for fourth in the preseason Big 12 Conference poll.
Minnesota's Brook Dieter was named MVP, and was joined on the all-Tournament team by Rachel Hartmann (Minnesota), Brittnee Cooper (LSU), Elena Martinez (LSU), Mary Batis (Texas A&M) and Houts.
Double-Double Decker
Fifth year senior Carolyn Decker had a match-high 15 digs to go with 13 kills as Creighton became the only team to sweep Texas A&M at the Bluejay Invitational.
Decker's double-double against the Aggies was the senior's first since Nov. 20, 2004 and her 15 digs were her most in a match since a 17-dig performance in the 2005 season opener against Northern Colorado.
Decker, who also hit .429 in the sweep over Texas A&M, was the first CU player to post a double-double and hit .400 in the same match since Allie Oelke had 17 kills and 25 digs while hitting .433 against Evansville on Nov. 4, 2007.
Decker, however, became the first CU senior to have a kill-dig double-double and hit .400 in the same match since Melissa Walsh had 23 kills and 10 digs while hitting .526 against Southern Illinois on Nov. 2, 2001.
Eliminate The Errors
It's true for all programs, but one of the item the Bluejay coaching staff continues to focus on is the elimination of unforced errors.
Creighton has combined for 561 errors (kill errors + set errors + serving errors + ball handling errors + block errors + receiving errors) in 60 sets played to 25.
Creighton has had 10 or more errors in 18 of the 24 sets it has lost, averaging 11.54 miscues in those lost sets.
On the other hand, in the 36 sets that Creighton won, it has made nine errors or less 26 times and averaged just 7.89 errors per set.
Creighton is 18-2 when making eight errors or less in a set to 25 points, but 18-22 when they make nine or more errors.
Preseason Poll
Creighton has been picked third in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches. Defending regular-season champion Wichita State was picked to win the league, while defending tournament champion Northern Iowa was second. Following Creighton, Missouri State and Illinois State rounded out the top half.
Eight players were also named preseason all-MVC, including Bluejay senior Korie Lebeda.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won four matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. On the other hand, Creighton is 98-0 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
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 19-6 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 1-2 10-7
Total 34-34 191-222
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 122-7 (.946) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 64-1 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 57-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-142 (.041) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-46 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
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 81 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 73-8. CU is 80-12 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 18-58 under Booth when it drops the first game.
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 with CU owning a 26-10 lead over Montana State on Aug. 25, 2007. 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 and for five points against Indiana State on Oct. 26.
Lebeda has played every point of the 2008 season thus far as well.
Lebeda has played in 19,578 of a possible 19,590 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.939 percent.
Statistics Expected To Decline
With the move from 30-point sets to 25-point sets, don't be surprised to see statistics plummet nearly 20 percent as well.
To help anticipate what the rule change would do this fall, Creighton Volleyball SID Rob Anderson went through all of Creighton's matches last season and deleted each point in sets 1-4 that occurred after a team reached 25 points and led by two or more.
Creighton ended up playing 20.46 percent fewer points (form 5,500 to 4,566 points) and numbers dropped across the board with the exception of hitting percentage, which rose by a scant .001.
Listed below is how stats would have been affected had the new rules been in effect last season in regards to stats for the entire team, category leaders, and some single-match superlatives.
Team Category To 30 Pts. To 25 Pts. Diff.
Kills Per Set 16.04 13.35 -20%
Hitting Pct. .211 .212 +.001
Assists Per Set 14.82 12.33 -20%
Aces Per Set 1.41 1.21 -17%
Digs Per Set 19.78 16.59 -19%
Blocks Per Set 2.65 2.15 -17%
Indiv. Category To 30 Pts. To 25 Pts. Player
Kills Per Set 4.18 3.46 Goc
Hitting Pct. .368 .369 Goc
Assists Per Set 12.50 10.41 Lebeda
Aces Per Set 0.36 0.33 Oelke
Digs Per Set 5.78 5.03 Rivera
Blocks Per Set 0.99 0.78 Bloemke
Indiv. Superlatives 30-Pt. Matches 25-Pt. Matches
20+ Kills 8 times 3 times
24+ Kills 2 times 0 times
20+ Digs 15 times 9 times
25+ Digs 6 times 3 times
50+ Assists 7 times 1 time
40+ Assists 21 times 8 times
50+ Attempts 5 times 0 times
Double-Doubles 24 times 12 times
Production Returning
Creighton returns 9-of-14 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1506 (95.0%) 80 (5.0%)
Aces 127 (84.1%) 24 (15.9%)
Digs 1704 (80.5%) 412 (19.5%)
Matches Started 138 (74.2%) 48 (25.8%)
Points 1477.5 (68.7%) 673.0 (31.3%)
Kills 1139 (66.3%) 577 (33.7%)
Blocks 159.5 (56.3%) 124 (43.7%)
New Facility on the Way
Creighton broke ground on a new athletics facility on October 16, 2007, to be located just northeast of Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium on the northeast corner of Webster Street and Florence Boulevard.
The Ryan Center and D.J. Sokol Arena, a 75,000 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, hosting the MVC Tournament that November.
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton was picked third in the 2008 MVC preseason coaches poll. Wichita State (91 points, four first-place votes) was favored to win its second straight title, just ahead of Northern Iowa (84, two) and Creighton (81, three). Rounding out the rest of the league was Missouri State (73, one), Illinois State (67), Southern Illinois (52), Evansville (34), Drake (31), Bradley (25) and Indiana State (12).
Each of the past five years Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better 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 T-2nd #1
2008 3rd ??? ???
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics
The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2008 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 and are one of 10 Division I schools nationwide to win the award in five consecutive campaigns.
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 3.31.
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 22 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 2008 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Oct. 24 at Wichita State
Oct. 25 at Missouri State
Oct. 31 at Drake
Nov. 7 Indiana State
Nov. 8 Illinois State
Nov. 21 Northern Iowa
Nov. 22 Bradley
Nov. 27-29 at MVC Tournament
Dec. 4-20 at NCAA Tournament
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 490 season tickets for volleyball this year after selling 380 season tickets last year.
Fall 2007 Summary
Creighton's 2007 season featured the squad's second consecutive 21-10 record. Despite a tie for second-place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 14-4 league mark, the Jays were not one of four league teams selected to the NCAA's.
Kelly Goc wrapped up an outstanding career by earning honorable-mention All-American honors, while setter Korie Lebeda was named first-team all-MVC. Other key contributors included MVC Freshman of the Year Allie Oelke and record-setting libero Bianca Rivera.
