Volleyball Opens Season Hosting Bluejay Invitational
8/27/2008 10:30:00 AM | Volleyball
This Weekend -- Bluejay Invitational
Aug. 29 4 pm #21 LSU vs. Texas A&M
Aug. 29 6 pm #16 Minnesota at Creighton
Aug. 30 10 am #21 LSU at Creighton
Aug. 30 Noon Texas A&M vs. #16 Minnesota
Aug. 30 5:30 pm #16 Minnesota vs. #21 LSU
Aug. 30 7:30 pm Texas A&M at Creighton
This Weekend
Creighton opens the 2008 volleyball season by hosting the Bluejay Invitational, which also includes No. 16 Minnesota, No. 21 LSU and Texas A&M. A schedule for the event is above.
Matches will be held at the Omaha Civic Auditorium (9,377) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio Broadcast Information
All of Creighton's matches this weekend can be heard on KVSS (88.9 FM), and will be streamed live for free on-line at http://www.kvss.com and http://www.gocreighton.com. Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will call the action.
Video Webcast Information
Only Creighton's matches will be video webcast this weekend and seen at www.gocreighton.com. Fans can sign up to buy a single match for $4.95 by clicking on the “Sign Up” graphic below the video box on the top right of the page or buy a season pass for $39.95.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the Bluejay Invitational 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 returns four starters plus its libero from last season's squad that finished 21-10 and tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Preseason all-MVC setter Korie Lebeda (12.50 aps.) is back for her fourth year running a potent Bluejay offense. Other returning starters include RS/OH Allie Oelke (3.29 kps., 3.19 dps.), MB Lauren Bloemke (2.44 kps., 0.99 bps.) and OH Sarah Schulze (2.81 dps.), as well as libero Bianca Rivera (5.78 dps.).
The Bluejay bench includes three other players with more than 35 career starts, including RS/OH Amanda Cvejdlik, RS/OH Carolyn Decker and MB Jessica Houts.
CU boasts five newcomers this fall, and its freshman class was tabbed the best in the MVC by prepvolleyball.com.
Creighton has been picked third in the MVC's preseason poll.
Scouting No. 16 Minnesota
Minnesota went 18-13 last season and tied for third in the Big Ten with an 11-9 league mark. The Gophers have made nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including three Regional Finals in the past five years.
Minnesota return four starters plus its libero and 8-of-12 letterwinners overall. One of the leaders on the Gopher team is Papillion native Kyla Roehrig (3.34 kps, 1.00 bps). The senior outside hitter owns 941 career kills and has averaged 3.94 kills per set while hitting .304 in four career matches against homestate schools (Creighton and Nebraska).
Other returning starters include OH Brook Dieter (3.75 kps), MB Lauren Gibbemeyer (2.85 kps, 1.09 bps) and S Rachel Hartmann (12.23 aps, 0.89 bps), as well as libero Christine Tan (4.70 dps).
Minnesota's 2008 recruiting class was tabbed 12th-best nationally by prepvolleyball.com and includes top-100 recruits Alex Blatt (#22), Ariana Filho (#24) and Jessica Granquist (#100).
The Gophers were picked second in Big Ten's preseason poll, trailing only defending national champion Penn State.
Scouting No. 21 LSU
LSU went 25-8 last season, winning the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference with a 15-5 mark.
The Tigers boast six returning starters as well as star libero Elena Martinez this fall. Martinez averaged 5.61 digs per set last year, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and an honorable-mention All-American plaudits.
Leading the returning offense is first-team all-SEC selections OH Kyna Washington (3.87 kps.) and Lauren DeGiorlamo (3.33 kps., 1.51 bps.).
Among the top newcomers are Michele Williams (the nation's #34 recruit) and setter Samantha Dabbs, who started the past two seasons at Louisville.
Scouting Texas A&M
Texas A&M went 21-10 last year and tied for sixth in the Big 12 with a 10-10 league mark. The Aggies were 11-0 in non-conference play last fall but just missed a 14th NCAA Tournament bid in the past 15 years.
A&M returns five starters and 9-of-12 letterwinners from a year ago, including preseason all-Big 12 OH's Sarah Ammerman (4.43 kps.) and Mary Batis (3.56 kps., 3.57 dps.). Other starters who are back include setter Kristen Schevikhoven (12.09 aps.), RS Kelsey Bryant (2.18 kps.) and MB Jillian Phillips (2.35 kps., 1.20 bps.).
A pair of top-50 recruits are also expected to make an immediate impact, Chelsea Ringel (#40) and Kelsey Black (#42).
The Aggies are picked to finish fourth in the Big 12.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns an 88-63 record entering 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.
Minnesota is coached by Mike Hebert, who brings a 873-368 career mark into his 33rd season as head coach. Hebert owns a 301-111 mark in 12 previous seasons at Minnesota. He is assisted by Scott Swanson and Laura Bush.
LSU is coached by Fran Flory, who owns a 290-236 record in 17 seasons overall. Her record at LSU is 180-122 in 10 years. She is assisted by Steve Loeswick and Jill Lytle Wilson.
Texas A&M is coached by Laurie Corbelli, who owns a 427-250 career record in 22 seasons. She is 327-144 in 15 years with the Aggies. She is assisted by John Corbelli and Robyn Romansky.
Series History vs. Minnesota
Since its 1994 reinstatement, Creighton is 0-1 all-time in fall action against Minnesota, falling in four games (30-22, 29-31, 30-23, 30-13) on Sept. 15, 2007 in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Gophers also list a 3-1 win over the Jays on Nov. 21, 1980 in Springfield, Mo., in their media guide.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-1 against Minnesota and 0-1 against coach Mike Hebert.
Series History vs. LSU
Creighton has never faced LSU in volleyball.
Series History vs. Texas A&M
Creighton is 0-1 all-time against Texas A&M, having lost to the then-No. 19 Aggies (15-2, 15-8, 15-1) on Sept. 4, 1998 in Stockton, Calif.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth has never faced Texas A&M or coached against Laurie Corbelli.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton played its only exhibition of the fall last Saturday, an intrasquad scrimmage that saw the “Blue” team defeat the “White” team, 3-2 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 17-15).
Allie Oelke had a team-high 13 kills for the Blue team, which managed 15 aces on the night. The White team was paced by 23 kills from Alicia Runge.
City of Volleyball
The eyes of the college volleyball world will no doubt be on Omaha this weekend. The Bluejay Invitational will take place at the Omaha Civic Auditorium while the Runza/AVCA Showcase will be just down the street at Qwest Center Omaha.
The two tournaments will feature six ranked teams, including No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 USC, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 16 Minnesota and No. 21 LSU. Additionally, Texas A&M is receiving enough votes to come in 34th in the preseason AVCA poll.
Creighton, coming off back-to-back 21-10 seasons, is the only one of the eight teams to not be listed in the preseason AVCA poll.
Spring Sweep
Creighton's meeting with Minnesota on Friday won't be the first time the school's have met in 2008. The schools also played on April 12th in Ames, Iowa.
On that day, the Jays swept the Gophers 29-27, 25-23, 26-24, handing Minnesota its only loss in eight spring matches.
Season Opening History
With its loss to Middle Tennessee last year, Creighton fell to 7-7 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994. Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-2 in opening matches.
The Jays also dropped to 2-3 all-time in season-openers at home with the loss to the Blue Raiders.
Each of Creighton's first three matches in each of the past three seasons have been three-set sweeps, with the Jays going 8-1 in those contests.
Hello World!
Creighton has five players (Karisa Almgren, Megan Bober, Emily Crowley, Alicia Runge and Laurel Sanford) that might make their Division I debut this weekend. Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts.
Since 1999, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005) and Allie Oelke
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of this page.
Year Name GP K E TA Pct. A SA Dig TB
2004 Carolyn Decker? 3 7 6 24 .042 0 3 4 0
2005 Korie Lebeda? 3 4 0 5 .800 39 0 10 2
2007 Allie Oelke? 3 4 7 24 -.125 1 3 6 3
2005 A. Cvejdlik 2 2 0 3 .667 0 0 0 0
2005 Jessica Houts 2 2 1 4 .250 0 0 0 2
2006 Lauren Bloemke 3 1 1 6 .000 2 0 0 4
2006 Sarah Schulze 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2007 Melanie Feldman 2 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
2007 Bianca Rivera 3 0 0 0 --- 4 0 14 0
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 41-48 in the 30 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 5-5 mark last year. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 25-17 in 15 regular-season tournaments, including five titles.
Creighton had won just one of 15 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic).
Club Reunion
One of the best club volleyball teams in the country over the years has been the Northern Lights program in Minnesota. Friday will be a reunion of sorts, as both Creighton and Minnesota have plenty of Northern Lights alums.
All five of Creighton's recent players from the Gopher State (Jessica Houts, Allie Oelke, Laurel Sanford and alums Molly Lahr and Jodi Bjoin) played in the club.
Minnesota's products of the Northern Lights program include the sophomore trio of Hailey Cowles, Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer and freshman Ashley Suapaia. That group teamed with Oelke to take second in 2007 and first in 2006 at the US Junior AAU Nationals.
Against Ranked Teams
Creighton's contests against No. 16 Minnesota and No. 21 LSU will give it a pair of chances to snap its 0-28 record against ranked opponents. The Bluejays have never even played as much as a five-game match against a ranked opponent.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time
Date Opponent Result
09/01/98 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
09/04/98 vs. #19 Texas A&M (@Pacific) L 0-3
09/05/98 at #11 Pacific L 0-3
09/14/99 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
10/16/99 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/08/00 at #6 Hawai'i L 0-3
10/03/00 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara L 1-3
09/09/01 vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara (at Santa Clara) L 0-3
09/25/01 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/13/01 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
11/09/01 at #18 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/06/02 vs. #13 Pacific L 0-3
09/21/02 at #7 Northern Iowa L 1-3
09/29/02 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
10/18/02 #10 Northern Iowa L 0-3
10/04/03 at #10 Northern Iowa L 1-3
11/01/03 vs. #12 Northern Iowa L 1-3
10/10/04 vs. #5 Nebraska (North Platte, Neb.) L 0-3
09/06/05 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
09/10/05 vs. #3 Stanford (Boulder, Colo.) L 0-3
10/11/05 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/29/05 at #25 Wichita State L 1-3
09/24/06 #1 Nebraska L 1-3
08/31/07 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/02/07 #18 Cal Poly L 0-3
09/15/07 at #13 Minnesota L 1-3
11/10/07 at #24 Wichita State L 0-3
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.
What's New?
Several rule and terminology rules will change for the 2008 season. The term “game” has now been changed to “set”. The number of points required to win sets one through four is now 25 (was 30). The fifth set is still played to 15 points. The maximum number of substitutions for each team is 12 per set (was 15).
Statistics Expected To Decline Too
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
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.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 18-4 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.
Creighton's opponent on Saturday morning, LSU, played an astounding 13 five-set matches last season. The Tigers won nine of those 13 contests.
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
Total 33-32 181-215
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 114-6 (.950) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 56-0 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 53-3 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-139 (.041) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-44 mark in those home matches. Those six comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below:
Date Opponent Games 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
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 88-0 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
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%)
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, 2000. 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 in 16,878 of a possible 16,890 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.929 percent.
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.
Freshman Get To Start
Creighton has started at least one freshman in 166 of its last 169 matches. The opening weekend of 2006 remains the only time since Sept. 20, 2002, that Creighton opened a match without a freshman starter.
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 70 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 64-6. CU is 70-10 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 17-53 under Booth when it drops the first game.
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:
2008 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Aug. 29 Minnesota
Aug. 30 LSU
Aug. 30 Texas A&M
Sept. 2 Iowa State
Sept. 12 vs. Rice
Sept. 13 vs. Oklahoma
Sept. 13 at Stephen F. Austin
Sept. 19 at Bradley
Sept. 20 at Northern Iowa
Sept. 26 Missouri State
Sept. 27 Wichita State
Oct. 3 Drake
Oct. 5 Nebraska
Oct. 17 Evansville
Oct. 18 Southern Illinois
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. (2007). All four of those women went on to earn a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman team.
Aug. 29 4 pm #21 LSU vs. Texas A&M
Aug. 29 6 pm #16 Minnesota at Creighton
Aug. 30 10 am #21 LSU at Creighton
Aug. 30 Noon Texas A&M vs. #16 Minnesota
Aug. 30 5:30 pm #16 Minnesota vs. #21 LSU
Aug. 30 7:30 pm Texas A&M at Creighton
This Weekend
Creighton opens the 2008 volleyball season by hosting the Bluejay Invitational, which also includes No. 16 Minnesota, No. 21 LSU and Texas A&M. A schedule for the event is above.
Matches will be held at the Omaha Civic Auditorium (9,377) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio Broadcast Information
All of Creighton's matches this weekend can be heard on KVSS (88.9 FM), and will be streamed live for free on-line at http://www.kvss.com and http://www.gocreighton.com. Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will call the action.
Video Webcast Information
Only Creighton's matches will be video webcast this weekend and seen at www.gocreighton.com. Fans can sign up to buy a single match for $4.95 by clicking on the “Sign Up” graphic below the video box on the top right of the page or buy a season pass for $39.95.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the Bluejay Invitational 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 returns four starters plus its libero from last season's squad that finished 21-10 and tied for second in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Preseason all-MVC setter Korie Lebeda (12.50 aps.) is back for her fourth year running a potent Bluejay offense. Other returning starters include RS/OH Allie Oelke (3.29 kps., 3.19 dps.), MB Lauren Bloemke (2.44 kps., 0.99 bps.) and OH Sarah Schulze (2.81 dps.), as well as libero Bianca Rivera (5.78 dps.).
The Bluejay bench includes three other players with more than 35 career starts, including RS/OH Amanda Cvejdlik, RS/OH Carolyn Decker and MB Jessica Houts.
CU boasts five newcomers this fall, and its freshman class was tabbed the best in the MVC by prepvolleyball.com.
Creighton has been picked third in the MVC's preseason poll.
Scouting No. 16 Minnesota
Minnesota went 18-13 last season and tied for third in the Big Ten with an 11-9 league mark. The Gophers have made nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including three Regional Finals in the past five years.
Minnesota return four starters plus its libero and 8-of-12 letterwinners overall. One of the leaders on the Gopher team is Papillion native Kyla Roehrig (3.34 kps, 1.00 bps). The senior outside hitter owns 941 career kills and has averaged 3.94 kills per set while hitting .304 in four career matches against homestate schools (Creighton and Nebraska).
Other returning starters include OH Brook Dieter (3.75 kps), MB Lauren Gibbemeyer (2.85 kps, 1.09 bps) and S Rachel Hartmann (12.23 aps, 0.89 bps), as well as libero Christine Tan (4.70 dps).
Minnesota's 2008 recruiting class was tabbed 12th-best nationally by prepvolleyball.com and includes top-100 recruits Alex Blatt (#22), Ariana Filho (#24) and Jessica Granquist (#100).
The Gophers were picked second in Big Ten's preseason poll, trailing only defending national champion Penn State.
Scouting No. 21 LSU
LSU went 25-8 last season, winning the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference with a 15-5 mark.
The Tigers boast six returning starters as well as star libero Elena Martinez this fall. Martinez averaged 5.61 digs per set last year, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and an honorable-mention All-American plaudits.
Leading the returning offense is first-team all-SEC selections OH Kyna Washington (3.87 kps.) and Lauren DeGiorlamo (3.33 kps., 1.51 bps.).
Among the top newcomers are Michele Williams (the nation's #34 recruit) and setter Samantha Dabbs, who started the past two seasons at Louisville.
Scouting Texas A&M
Texas A&M went 21-10 last year and tied for sixth in the Big 12 with a 10-10 league mark. The Aggies were 11-0 in non-conference play last fall but just missed a 14th NCAA Tournament bid in the past 15 years.
A&M returns five starters and 9-of-12 letterwinners from a year ago, including preseason all-Big 12 OH's Sarah Ammerman (4.43 kps.) and Mary Batis (3.56 kps., 3.57 dps.). Other starters who are back include setter Kristen Schevikhoven (12.09 aps.), RS Kelsey Bryant (2.18 kps.) and MB Jillian Phillips (2.35 kps., 1.20 bps.).
A pair of top-50 recruits are also expected to make an immediate impact, Chelsea Ringel (#40) and Kelsey Black (#42).
The Aggies are picked to finish fourth in the Big 12.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns an 88-63 record entering 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.
Minnesota is coached by Mike Hebert, who brings a 873-368 career mark into his 33rd season as head coach. Hebert owns a 301-111 mark in 12 previous seasons at Minnesota. He is assisted by Scott Swanson and Laura Bush.
LSU is coached by Fran Flory, who owns a 290-236 record in 17 seasons overall. Her record at LSU is 180-122 in 10 years. She is assisted by Steve Loeswick and Jill Lytle Wilson.
Texas A&M is coached by Laurie Corbelli, who owns a 427-250 career record in 22 seasons. She is 327-144 in 15 years with the Aggies. She is assisted by John Corbelli and Robyn Romansky.
Series History vs. Minnesota
Since its 1994 reinstatement, Creighton is 0-1 all-time in fall action against Minnesota, falling in four games (30-22, 29-31, 30-23, 30-13) on Sept. 15, 2007 in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Gophers also list a 3-1 win over the Jays on Nov. 21, 1980 in Springfield, Mo., in their media guide.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-1 against Minnesota and 0-1 against coach Mike Hebert.
Series History vs. LSU
Creighton has never faced LSU in volleyball.
Series History vs. Texas A&M
Creighton is 0-1 all-time against Texas A&M, having lost to the then-No. 19 Aggies (15-2, 15-8, 15-1) on Sept. 4, 1998 in Stockton, Calif.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth has never faced Texas A&M or coached against Laurie Corbelli.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton played its only exhibition of the fall last Saturday, an intrasquad scrimmage that saw the “Blue” team defeat the “White” team, 3-2 (25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 17-15).
Allie Oelke had a team-high 13 kills for the Blue team, which managed 15 aces on the night. The White team was paced by 23 kills from Alicia Runge.
City of Volleyball
The eyes of the college volleyball world will no doubt be on Omaha this weekend. The Bluejay Invitational will take place at the Omaha Civic Auditorium while the Runza/AVCA Showcase will be just down the street at Qwest Center Omaha.
The two tournaments will feature six ranked teams, including No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 USC, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 16 Minnesota and No. 21 LSU. Additionally, Texas A&M is receiving enough votes to come in 34th in the preseason AVCA poll.
Creighton, coming off back-to-back 21-10 seasons, is the only one of the eight teams to not be listed in the preseason AVCA poll.
Spring Sweep
Creighton's meeting with Minnesota on Friday won't be the first time the school's have met in 2008. The schools also played on April 12th in Ames, Iowa.
On that day, the Jays swept the Gophers 29-27, 25-23, 26-24, handing Minnesota its only loss in eight spring matches.
Season Opening History
With its loss to Middle Tennessee last year, Creighton fell to 7-7 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994. Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-2 in opening matches.
The Jays also dropped to 2-3 all-time in season-openers at home with the loss to the Blue Raiders.
Each of Creighton's first three matches in each of the past three seasons have been three-set sweeps, with the Jays going 8-1 in those contests.
Hello World!
Creighton has five players (Karisa Almgren, Megan Bober, Emily Crowley, Alicia Runge and Laurel Sanford) that might make their Division I debut this weekend. Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts.
Since 1999, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005) and Allie Oelke
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of this page.
Year Name GP K E TA Pct. A SA Dig TB
2004 Carolyn Decker? 3 7 6 24 .042 0 3 4 0
2005 Korie Lebeda? 3 4 0 5 .800 39 0 10 2
2007 Allie Oelke? 3 4 7 24 -.125 1 3 6 3
2005 A. Cvejdlik 2 2 0 3 .667 0 0 0 0
2005 Jessica Houts 2 2 1 4 .250 0 0 0 2
2006 Lauren Bloemke 3 1 1 6 .000 2 0 0 4
2006 Sarah Schulze 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2007 Melanie Feldman 2 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
2007 Bianca Rivera 3 0 0 0 --- 4 0 14 0
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 41-48 in the 30 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 5-5 mark last year. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 25-17 in 15 regular-season tournaments, including five titles.
Creighton had won just one of 15 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic).
Club Reunion
One of the best club volleyball teams in the country over the years has been the Northern Lights program in Minnesota. Friday will be a reunion of sorts, as both Creighton and Minnesota have plenty of Northern Lights alums.
All five of Creighton's recent players from the Gopher State (Jessica Houts, Allie Oelke, Laurel Sanford and alums Molly Lahr and Jodi Bjoin) played in the club.
Minnesota's products of the Northern Lights program include the sophomore trio of Hailey Cowles, Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer and freshman Ashley Suapaia. That group teamed with Oelke to take second in 2007 and first in 2006 at the US Junior AAU Nationals.
Against Ranked Teams
Creighton's contests against No. 16 Minnesota and No. 21 LSU will give it a pair of chances to snap its 0-28 record against ranked opponents. The Bluejays have never even played as much as a five-game match against a ranked opponent.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time
Date Opponent Result
09/01/98 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
09/04/98 vs. #19 Texas A&M (@Pacific) L 0-3
09/05/98 at #11 Pacific L 0-3
09/14/99 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
10/16/99 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/08/00 at #6 Hawai'i L 0-3
10/03/00 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara L 1-3
09/09/01 vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara (at Santa Clara) L 0-3
09/25/01 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/13/01 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
11/09/01 at #18 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/06/02 vs. #13 Pacific L 0-3
09/21/02 at #7 Northern Iowa L 1-3
09/29/02 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
10/18/02 #10 Northern Iowa L 0-3
10/04/03 at #10 Northern Iowa L 1-3
11/01/03 vs. #12 Northern Iowa L 1-3
10/10/04 vs. #5 Nebraska (North Platte, Neb.) L 0-3
09/06/05 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
09/10/05 vs. #3 Stanford (Boulder, Colo.) L 0-3
10/11/05 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/29/05 at #25 Wichita State L 1-3
09/24/06 #1 Nebraska L 1-3
08/31/07 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/02/07 #18 Cal Poly L 0-3
09/15/07 at #13 Minnesota L 1-3
11/10/07 at #24 Wichita State L 0-3
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.
What's New?
Several rule and terminology rules will change for the 2008 season. The term “game” has now been changed to “set”. The number of points required to win sets one through four is now 25 (was 30). The fifth set is still played to 15 points. The maximum number of substitutions for each team is 12 per set (was 15).
Statistics Expected To Decline Too
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
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.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 18-4 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.
Creighton's opponent on Saturday morning, LSU, played an astounding 13 five-set matches last season. The Tigers won nine of those 13 contests.
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
Total 33-32 181-215
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 114-6 (.950) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 56-0 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 53-3 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-139 (.041) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-44 mark in those home matches. Those six comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below:
Date Opponent Games 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
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 88-0 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
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%)
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, 2000. 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 in 16,878 of a possible 16,890 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.929 percent.
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.
Freshman Get To Start
Creighton has started at least one freshman in 166 of its last 169 matches. The opening weekend of 2006 remains the only time since Sept. 20, 2002, that Creighton opened a match without a freshman starter.
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 70 matches in which it wins game one, Creighton is 64-6. CU is 70-10 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win game one. In that same time span, CU is just 17-53 under Booth when it drops the first game.
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:
2008 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Aug. 29 Minnesota
Aug. 30 LSU
Aug. 30 Texas A&M
Sept. 2 Iowa State
Sept. 12 vs. Rice
Sept. 13 vs. Oklahoma
Sept. 13 at Stephen F. Austin
Sept. 19 at Bradley
Sept. 20 at Northern Iowa
Sept. 26 Missouri State
Sept. 27 Wichita State
Oct. 3 Drake
Oct. 5 Nebraska
Oct. 17 Evansville
Oct. 18 Southern Illinois
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. (2007). All four of those women went on to earn a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman team.
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
