Volleyball Visits Drake Friday
10/30/2008 2:15:00 PM | Volleyball
This Weekend
Creighton (11-8, 8-3 MVC) closes a three-match road swing with a Friday contest in Des Moines, Iowa, against Drake (9-16, 2-9 MVC). First serve at Drake Knapp Center (7,002) is set for 7 pm.
Radio Broadcast Information
Friday's match 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 godrakebulldogs.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 “D-Pack” graphic within the video box on the top right of the page at godrakebulldogs.com.
Live Stats Information
As of Oct. 30th, Friday's match will not have live stats.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 11-8 this season and 8-3 in the MVC while playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to date. Seven of the eight teams Creighton has lost to are getting votes in this week's AVCA poll, with preseason No. 21 LSU the lone exceptions.
Junior MB Jessica Houts leads the team in kills per set (3.27) and blocks per set (1.21) while also hitting at a .283 mark. She is the only MVC player to rank in the top eight of each category.
Senior S Korie Lebeda (10.39 aps.) ranks eighth in MVC history with a Creighton-record 4,960 assists. She's posted a double-double in nine of 11 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 (2.92 kps.) and Carolyn Decker (2.67 kps., 2.52 dps.). Decker is working on a streak of four straight double-doubles.
Defensively, senior libero Bianca Rivera (4.46 dps.) set school records for single-season digs and digs per set last fall. She owns 10 or more digs in 45 of 50 career matches at Creighton, reaching 20 or more digs on 22 occasions.
Coming off back-to-back 21-10 seasons, Creighton was picked third in the preseason MVC poll.
Creighton hits .226 as a team and averages 13.14 kills, 0.94 aces, 16.18 digs and 2.52 blocks per set.
Scouting Drake
After starting 7-1 and 9-8, Drake has dropped eight straight matches to fall to 9-16 on the season. Four of its last six losses have come in five sets, including a nearly-monumental upset last Saturday at No. 12 Wichita State.
The Bulldogs are 2-9 in the MVC where they are tied for eighth place with Indiana State.
Sophomore OH Angela Bys leads Drake with 3.46 kills per set while ranking second on the squad with 21 aces. Four other players own more than 100 kills this fall, including Emily Madden, who averages 2.02 kills per set and hits .092.
Setting for Drake is Chelsea Lauersdorf (8.67 aps.), who also leads the team with 25 aces. Libero Alana Wittenburg tops the team with 4.93 digs per set.
As a team, Drake averages 11.56 kills, 1.15 aces, 15.21 digs and 1.98 blocks per set while hitting .171.
Series History vs. Drake
Creighton owns a 16-13 record in 29 all-time meetings with Drake, including an 8-6 mark during 14 meetings in Des Moines. Creighton has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series but has not swept the Drake in Des Moines since 2003.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 10-1 against Drake and 1-0 versus Phil McDaniel.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 99-71 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. Phil McDaniel (Culver-Stockton College, 1996) is 9-16 in his first season at Drake, which also doubles as his career mark as a head coach. McDaniel spent three seasons as an assistant at both South Dakota State and New Mexico State before heading to Drake. He is assisted by Erin Hirsch, Chris Brees and Sarah Schuster.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton went 1-1 last week, losing at No. 12 Wichita State (0-3) on Friday before beating Missouri State (3-2) one night later. Carolyn Decker led CU with 3.38 kills and .265 hitting while also producing a pair of double-doubles. Bianca Rivera led the defense with 41 digs overall.
Searching For 100
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 99 career wins and can become the first Bluejay volleyball coach to 100 with a win at Drake. Now in her sixth year, Booth is 99-71 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
Computer Math
The volleyball-specific site at richkern.com has published its seventh computer rankings of the fall.
Creighton is ranked No. 38 in the “Pablo” rankings, second-best in the MVC behind Wichita State (14) and one of six MVC schools to crack the top-100.
Creighton's strength of schedule, based on the average of an opponents RPI, is rated 49th-toughest nationally and ninth-best when only non-conference matches are factored in.
Creighton is 5-0 against teams with a computer ranking of 121 or worse, and 6-8 against teams in the top-120 nationally.
If you include Wichita State twice (since WSU beat CU twice), the teams to beat Creighton this year own a combined record of 148-27 (.846).
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. 26th, ranks Creighton 44th 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 5-8 against the top-100 teams, 4-0 versus teams 101-200 and 3-0 against teams ranked 201 and higher.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won four matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including last year's trip to Des Moines. On the other hand, Creighton is 99-0 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 20-6 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.
Friday's opponent, Drake, started the year 4-0 in five-set matches but has lost its past four matches to go the distance. In fact, four of Drake's last six losses have been five-setters. That means an incredible eight of Drake's 25 matches that have gone the distance this fall.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-2 11-8
Total 35-34 192-223
Holding The Aces
Creighton did not allow an ace in Saturday's five-set win over Missouri State, successfully handling all 93 service attempts from the Bears. It was the first time in CU history that it had played a five-set match in which it did not allow an ace.
In school history, Creighton is 12-0 in matches in which it does not allow an ace. All but one of those contests have taken place since Kirsten Bernthal Booth took over in 2003, including Creighton's Oct. 3 win over Drake in which the Bulldogs were held ace-less.
Tricky Trip
Both of Creighton's last two trips to Des Moines have been scary, and it's had nothing to do with the Halloween holiday.
Last year Creighton lost star MB Jessica Houts to what became a season-ending knee injury in the final minutes of warm-ups. Once the match started, Creighton had to overcome a 14-12 fifth-set deficit before finally winning, 17-15.
In 2006, a Creighton team that entered the match 15-5 lost to a 3-17 Drake team in four sets in Des Moines.
A Win From .500
A win on Friday would give Creighton nine wins in MVC action, ensuring a sixth straight season of a .500 record or better in league play.
Prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, Creighton had gone .500 or better in only four of nine seasons all-time.
Standings Make Sense
Creighton continues to beat the teams it should, while searching for a signature upset.
In the past two years, Creighton is 20-0 against teams below it in the (current 2008 and final 2007) MVC standings. The Jays are 2-2 against teams they are tied with, and 0-5 versus teams that are ahead of them in the league race.
TGIF
Creighton will look to extend its Friday road success streak this weekend when it visits Drake.
The Jays have won 11 of their past 12 Friday road matches in MVC play. The only setback in the less three years was last Friday's loss at undefeated Wichita State.
Creighton is 16-7 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 15-11 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.
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 59-42 (.584) 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 32-19 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 12-3 in the past two years in road MVC matches.
Countdown To 1,000 Kills
Junior Jessica Houts enters this weekend with 972 kills, which gives her an outside chance of reaching the 1,000 mark this Friday. She is currently sixth in CU history, but will likely move past Shelly Kapler later this year.
Houts, who has played in 87 career matches, owns a career-high of 27 kills.
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. Jessica Houts 307 972 2005-Pr.
7. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
8. Ashley Williams 359 941 2001-04
9. Amanda Cvejdlik 313 935 2005-Pr.
10. Michelle Prorock 299 815 1994-96
Digger's Hotline
Senior libero Bianca Rivera owns 16 or more digs in each of Creighton's last 11 matches, including six performances of 20 digs or more. She is averaging 5.54 digs per set in the last nine matches.
Rivera owns 22 career matches of 20 or more digs, most in Bluejay history, including a record-tying 38 last season at Drake.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
22 Bianca Rivera 2007-Pres.
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
Hit List
Drake is allowing opponents to hit .221 on the season, a number inflated by Creighton's .414 hitting on October 3rd in Omaha. On the year, Creighton is 11-1 when hitting .215 or better, but 0-7 when it hits below that figure.
In MVC only play, Creighton is hitting a league-best .242, while Drake's defense has allowed a league-worst .274 attack percentage.
Additionally, Creighton tops all MVC teams with 13.79 kills per set in league action, while Drake allows a league-most 14.44 kills per set.
Korie, Korie, Korie
Korie Lebeda has started all 111 matches since coming to campus, passing Melissa Walsh's (1998-01) former record of 107 career starts.
With 399 career sets played, Lebeda remains on pace to shatter the school record of 411 sets played by Melissa Weisensee (1994-97) in the final five 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 4,960 career assists (eighth in MVC history) and 1,044 career digs.
Lebeda has done her work in 399 sets, averaging 12.43 aps., while No. 4 on the list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey, has averaged 12.10 aps., but has played in significantly more (428) 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. 5,179 Erin Lindsey, ILS 2005-Pres.
5. 5,137 Megan Mirs, INS 1998-01
6. 5,067 Betsy Knott, UE 1995-98
7. 5,057 Debbie Barr, SIU 1996-99
8. 4,960 Korie Lebeda, CU 2005-Pres.
9. 4,957 Kelly Hanson, DU 1993-96
10. 4,881 Shannon Perry, UNI 1996-99
Leave it to Lebeda
Korie Lebeda enters this weekend with 4,960 career assists, 1,044 digs, 378 kills and 261 blocks.
She is one of three players in MVC history with at least 4,900 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 4,960 378 1,044 261
Better To Receive?
Creighton's serve receive defense has picked up during its last seven MVC matches. The Jays have allowed just 10 aces in 470 serves over 26 sets during its current winning streak. Bianca Rivera has handled 176 serves in that time without allowing an ace.
Aces Away
Creighton served up a season-high seven aces in a four-set win over Southern Illinois on Oct. 18th. The Bluejays are 9-0 this year and 76-17 under coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up more aces than their opponent in a match.
In last year's win at Drake, Creighton served up four aces in the fifth set, including three from Allie Oelke. Oelke, in fact, served consecutive aces to end the match to top off a night that saw her finish with 17 kills, 10 digs and four aces.
Random Facts
Here's a collection of random facts about Creighton Volleyball.
Bianca Rivera has successfully handled all 161 serve receptions she's had in the past six matches. Seventy-one of those were converted directly into kills (44.1 percent), well above the team average of 34.9 percent for the season. Rivera has handled 283 serves in conference play, and allowed just one ace.
Creighton is 18-1 all-time when sophomore Allie Oelke hits .168 or better, including 15 straight wins.
Creighton is 8-2 this year and 13-2 in the past four years when Carolyn Decker has 10 kills or more.
Korie Lebeda has played in 69 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 is 2-1 all-time on Halloween.
Creighton is 6-2 in October. A win on Friday would match the 2004 team for most October wins in school history.
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 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 11 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 four of the last six 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.
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 1-1 so far ???
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 57-73 --
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 935 digs, tied for sixth-most in CU history. Rivera, who owns 317 digs this year, remains on pace become the sixth player in Bluejay history with 1,000 or more digs.
Additionally, Jessica Houts has 394 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 26th:
Top Average Home Attendance, 2008
Rk. School Avg.
1. Hawaii 6,232
2. Nebraska 5,162
3. Wisconsin 4,536
4. Minnesota 4,019
5. Purdue 3,205
6. Penn State 3,173
7. Wichita State 3,114
8. Michigan State 2,867
9. Florida 2,798
10. Colorado State 2,587
11. Stanford 2,302
12. Texas 2,215
13. Southern California 1,945
14. Missouri 1,741
15. Washington 1,703
16. Georgia Tech 1,696
17. New Mexico State 1,677
18. Texas A&M 1,624
19. Iowa State 1,608
20. Creighton 1,536
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 50 career double-doubles is fourth-most in Bluejay history, 15 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
50 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 207 kills this season and has had six or more kills in 18 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
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.
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 1,521 sets since bringing back volleyball in 1994, winning 716 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 14-7
All We Need Is One
Did you know that the team that scores the first point of a set has won 44 of Creighton's 71 sets played this season, including 27 of the last 41.
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 (3.27) and blocks per set (1.21) while also hitting .283.
Lebeda Still Going Strong
Senior setter Korie Lebeda has made 111 consecutive starts. The two-time all-Valley pick has participated in all but 12 points since arriving at Creighton in 2005. Creighton is 69-42 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 10 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 621 errors (kill errors + set errors + serving errors + ball handling errors + block errors + receiving errors) in 67 sets played to 25.
Creighton has had 10 or more errors in 20 of the 29 sets it has lost, averaging 11.28 miscues in those lost sets.
On the other hand, in the 38 sets that Creighton won, it has made nine errors or less 28 times and averaged just 7.74 errors per set.
Creighton is 20-2 when making eight errors or less in a set to 25 points, but 18-27 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.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 123-7 (.946) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 65-1 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 6-143 (.040) 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 82 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 74-8. CU is 81-12 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 18-59 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 19,905 of a possible 19,917 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.940 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%)
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 ??? ???
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.
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. 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.
Creighton (11-8, 8-3 MVC) closes a three-match road swing with a Friday contest in Des Moines, Iowa, against Drake (9-16, 2-9 MVC). First serve at Drake Knapp Center (7,002) is set for 7 pm.
Radio Broadcast Information
Friday's match 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 godrakebulldogs.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 “D-Pack” graphic within the video box on the top right of the page at godrakebulldogs.com.
Live Stats Information
As of Oct. 30th, Friday's match will not have live stats.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 11-8 this season and 8-3 in the MVC while playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to date. Seven of the eight teams Creighton has lost to are getting votes in this week's AVCA poll, with preseason No. 21 LSU the lone exceptions.
Junior MB Jessica Houts leads the team in kills per set (3.27) and blocks per set (1.21) while also hitting at a .283 mark. She is the only MVC player to rank in the top eight of each category.
Senior S Korie Lebeda (10.39 aps.) ranks eighth in MVC history with a Creighton-record 4,960 assists. She's posted a double-double in nine of 11 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 (2.92 kps.) and Carolyn Decker (2.67 kps., 2.52 dps.). Decker is working on a streak of four straight double-doubles.
Defensively, senior libero Bianca Rivera (4.46 dps.) set school records for single-season digs and digs per set last fall. She owns 10 or more digs in 45 of 50 career matches at Creighton, reaching 20 or more digs on 22 occasions.
Coming off back-to-back 21-10 seasons, Creighton was picked third in the preseason MVC poll.
Creighton hits .226 as a team and averages 13.14 kills, 0.94 aces, 16.18 digs and 2.52 blocks per set.
Scouting Drake
After starting 7-1 and 9-8, Drake has dropped eight straight matches to fall to 9-16 on the season. Four of its last six losses have come in five sets, including a nearly-monumental upset last Saturday at No. 12 Wichita State.
The Bulldogs are 2-9 in the MVC where they are tied for eighth place with Indiana State.
Sophomore OH Angela Bys leads Drake with 3.46 kills per set while ranking second on the squad with 21 aces. Four other players own more than 100 kills this fall, including Emily Madden, who averages 2.02 kills per set and hits .092.
Setting for Drake is Chelsea Lauersdorf (8.67 aps.), who also leads the team with 25 aces. Libero Alana Wittenburg tops the team with 4.93 digs per set.
As a team, Drake averages 11.56 kills, 1.15 aces, 15.21 digs and 1.98 blocks per set while hitting .171.
Series History vs. Drake
Creighton owns a 16-13 record in 29 all-time meetings with Drake, including an 8-6 mark during 14 meetings in Des Moines. Creighton has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series but has not swept the Drake in Des Moines since 2003.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 10-1 against Drake and 1-0 versus Phil McDaniel.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 99-71 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. Phil McDaniel (Culver-Stockton College, 1996) is 9-16 in his first season at Drake, which also doubles as his career mark as a head coach. McDaniel spent three seasons as an assistant at both South Dakota State and New Mexico State before heading to Drake. He is assisted by Erin Hirsch, Chris Brees and Sarah Schuster.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton went 1-1 last week, losing at No. 12 Wichita State (0-3) on Friday before beating Missouri State (3-2) one night later. Carolyn Decker led CU with 3.38 kills and .265 hitting while also producing a pair of double-doubles. Bianca Rivera led the defense with 41 digs overall.
Searching For 100
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 99 career wins and can become the first Bluejay volleyball coach to 100 with a win at Drake. Now in her sixth year, Booth is 99-71 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
Computer Math
The volleyball-specific site at richkern.com has published its seventh computer rankings of the fall.
Creighton is ranked No. 38 in the “Pablo” rankings, second-best in the MVC behind Wichita State (14) and one of six MVC schools to crack the top-100.
Creighton's strength of schedule, based on the average of an opponents RPI, is rated 49th-toughest nationally and ninth-best when only non-conference matches are factored in.
Creighton is 5-0 against teams with a computer ranking of 121 or worse, and 6-8 against teams in the top-120 nationally.
If you include Wichita State twice (since WSU beat CU twice), the teams to beat Creighton this year own a combined record of 148-27 (.846).
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. 26th, ranks Creighton 44th 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 5-8 against the top-100 teams, 4-0 versus teams 101-200 and 3-0 against teams ranked 201 and higher.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won four matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including last year's trip to Des Moines. On the other hand, Creighton is 99-0 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 20-6 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.
Friday's opponent, Drake, started the year 4-0 in five-set matches but has lost its past four matches to go the distance. In fact, four of Drake's last six losses have been five-setters. That means an incredible eight of Drake's 25 matches that have gone the distance this fall.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-2 11-8
Total 35-34 192-223
Holding The Aces
Creighton did not allow an ace in Saturday's five-set win over Missouri State, successfully handling all 93 service attempts from the Bears. It was the first time in CU history that it had played a five-set match in which it did not allow an ace.
In school history, Creighton is 12-0 in matches in which it does not allow an ace. All but one of those contests have taken place since Kirsten Bernthal Booth took over in 2003, including Creighton's Oct. 3 win over Drake in which the Bulldogs were held ace-less.
Tricky Trip
Both of Creighton's last two trips to Des Moines have been scary, and it's had nothing to do with the Halloween holiday.
Last year Creighton lost star MB Jessica Houts to what became a season-ending knee injury in the final minutes of warm-ups. Once the match started, Creighton had to overcome a 14-12 fifth-set deficit before finally winning, 17-15.
In 2006, a Creighton team that entered the match 15-5 lost to a 3-17 Drake team in four sets in Des Moines.
A Win From .500
A win on Friday would give Creighton nine wins in MVC action, ensuring a sixth straight season of a .500 record or better in league play.
Prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, Creighton had gone .500 or better in only four of nine seasons all-time.
Standings Make Sense
Creighton continues to beat the teams it should, while searching for a signature upset.
In the past two years, Creighton is 20-0 against teams below it in the (current 2008 and final 2007) MVC standings. The Jays are 2-2 against teams they are tied with, and 0-5 versus teams that are ahead of them in the league race.
TGIF
Creighton will look to extend its Friday road success streak this weekend when it visits Drake.
The Jays have won 11 of their past 12 Friday road matches in MVC play. The only setback in the less three years was last Friday's loss at undefeated Wichita State.
Creighton is 16-7 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 15-11 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.
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 59-42 (.584) 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 32-19 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 12-3 in the past two years in road MVC matches.
Countdown To 1,000 Kills
Junior Jessica Houts enters this weekend with 972 kills, which gives her an outside chance of reaching the 1,000 mark this Friday. She is currently sixth in CU history, but will likely move past Shelly Kapler later this year.
Houts, who has played in 87 career matches, owns a career-high of 27 kills.
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. Jessica Houts 307 972 2005-Pr.
7. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
8. Ashley Williams 359 941 2001-04
9. Amanda Cvejdlik 313 935 2005-Pr.
10. Michelle Prorock 299 815 1994-96
Digger's Hotline
Senior libero Bianca Rivera owns 16 or more digs in each of Creighton's last 11 matches, including six performances of 20 digs or more. She is averaging 5.54 digs per set in the last nine matches.
Rivera owns 22 career matches of 20 or more digs, most in Bluejay history, including a record-tying 38 last season at Drake.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
22 Bianca Rivera 2007-Pres.
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
Hit List
Drake is allowing opponents to hit .221 on the season, a number inflated by Creighton's .414 hitting on October 3rd in Omaha. On the year, Creighton is 11-1 when hitting .215 or better, but 0-7 when it hits below that figure.
In MVC only play, Creighton is hitting a league-best .242, while Drake's defense has allowed a league-worst .274 attack percentage.
Additionally, Creighton tops all MVC teams with 13.79 kills per set in league action, while Drake allows a league-most 14.44 kills per set.
Korie, Korie, Korie
Korie Lebeda has started all 111 matches since coming to campus, passing Melissa Walsh's (1998-01) former record of 107 career starts.
With 399 career sets played, Lebeda remains on pace to shatter the school record of 411 sets played by Melissa Weisensee (1994-97) in the final five 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 4,960 career assists (eighth in MVC history) and 1,044 career digs.
Lebeda has done her work in 399 sets, averaging 12.43 aps., while No. 4 on the list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey, has averaged 12.10 aps., but has played in significantly more (428) 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. 5,179 Erin Lindsey, ILS 2005-Pres.
5. 5,137 Megan Mirs, INS 1998-01
6. 5,067 Betsy Knott, UE 1995-98
7. 5,057 Debbie Barr, SIU 1996-99
8. 4,960 Korie Lebeda, CU 2005-Pres.
9. 4,957 Kelly Hanson, DU 1993-96
10. 4,881 Shannon Perry, UNI 1996-99
Leave it to Lebeda
Korie Lebeda enters this weekend with 4,960 career assists, 1,044 digs, 378 kills and 261 blocks.
She is one of three players in MVC history with at least 4,900 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 4,960 378 1,044 261
Better To Receive?
Creighton's serve receive defense has picked up during its last seven MVC matches. The Jays have allowed just 10 aces in 470 serves over 26 sets during its current winning streak. Bianca Rivera has handled 176 serves in that time without allowing an ace.
Aces Away
Creighton served up a season-high seven aces in a four-set win over Southern Illinois on Oct. 18th. The Bluejays are 9-0 this year and 76-17 under coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up more aces than their opponent in a match.
In last year's win at Drake, Creighton served up four aces in the fifth set, including three from Allie Oelke. Oelke, in fact, served consecutive aces to end the match to top off a night that saw her finish with 17 kills, 10 digs and four aces.
Random Facts
Here's a collection of random facts about Creighton Volleyball.
Bianca Rivera has successfully handled all 161 serve receptions she's had in the past six matches. Seventy-one of those were converted directly into kills (44.1 percent), well above the team average of 34.9 percent for the season. Rivera has handled 283 serves in conference play, and allowed just one ace.
Creighton is 18-1 all-time when sophomore Allie Oelke hits .168 or better, including 15 straight wins.
Creighton is 8-2 this year and 13-2 in the past four years when Carolyn Decker has 10 kills or more.
Korie Lebeda has played in 69 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 is 2-1 all-time on Halloween.
Creighton is 6-2 in October. A win on Friday would match the 2004 team for most October wins in school history.
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 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 11 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 four of the last six 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.
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 1-1 so far ???
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 57-73 --
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 935 digs, tied for sixth-most in CU history. Rivera, who owns 317 digs this year, remains on pace become the sixth player in Bluejay history with 1,000 or more digs.
Additionally, Jessica Houts has 394 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 26th:
Top Average Home Attendance, 2008
Rk. School Avg.
1. Hawaii 6,232
2. Nebraska 5,162
3. Wisconsin 4,536
4. Minnesota 4,019
5. Purdue 3,205
6. Penn State 3,173
7. Wichita State 3,114
8. Michigan State 2,867
9. Florida 2,798
10. Colorado State 2,587
11. Stanford 2,302
12. Texas 2,215
13. Southern California 1,945
14. Missouri 1,741
15. Washington 1,703
16. Georgia Tech 1,696
17. New Mexico State 1,677
18. Texas A&M 1,624
19. Iowa State 1,608
20. Creighton 1,536
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 50 career double-doubles is fourth-most in Bluejay history, 15 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
50 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 207 kills this season and has had six or more kills in 18 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
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.
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 1,521 sets since bringing back volleyball in 1994, winning 716 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 14-7
All We Need Is One
Did you know that the team that scores the first point of a set has won 44 of Creighton's 71 sets played this season, including 27 of the last 41.
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 (3.27) and blocks per set (1.21) while also hitting .283.
Lebeda Still Going Strong
Senior setter Korie Lebeda has made 111 consecutive starts. The two-time all-Valley pick has participated in all but 12 points since arriving at Creighton in 2005. Creighton is 69-42 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 10 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 621 errors (kill errors + set errors + serving errors + ball handling errors + block errors + receiving errors) in 67 sets played to 25.
Creighton has had 10 or more errors in 20 of the 29 sets it has lost, averaging 11.28 miscues in those lost sets.
On the other hand, in the 38 sets that Creighton won, it has made nine errors or less 28 times and averaged just 7.74 errors per set.
Creighton is 20-2 when making eight errors or less in a set to 25 points, but 18-27 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.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 123-7 (.946) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 65-1 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 6-143 (.040) 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 82 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 74-8. CU is 81-12 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 18-59 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 19,905 of a possible 19,917 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.940 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%)
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 ??? ???
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.
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. 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball - Annalea Maeder Highlights - 10/13/25
Monday, October 13
#13 Creighton Volleyball Highlights at Villanova - 10/11/25
Sunday, October 12
#13 Creighton Volleyball Highlights at Georgetown - 10-10-25
Saturday, October 11
Creighton Volleyball's Brian Rosen - Postmatch interview at Georgetown, 10/10/25
Saturday, October 11
