Photo by: Creighton Athletics
2008 Volleyball Recap
1/29/2009 1:45:00 PM | Volleyball
So close, yet so far. The 2008 season was full of highlights and plenty of wins, but for a second straight season, the Creighton University volleyball team came up just short of making a major breakthrough when it was not selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays finished the year with an 18-9 overall record despite missing three matches when the Ladyjack Invitational in Nacogdoches, Texas, was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike. Like 2007 though, the NCAA Tournament selection committee kept CU wondering what could have been when the Jays were among the last teams left out of the field of 64.
With four starters and its libero back from a 2007 team that finished 21-10, Creighton scheduled aggressively once again in 2008. Five of the nine non-conference teams Creighton faced would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, beginning with the season-opening Bluejay Invitational.
Creighton's home tournament included preseason No. 16 Minnesota, No. 21 LSU and receiving vote-getter Texas A&M and ranked among the nation's top preseason events. The Bluejays would fall to both the Golden Gophers and Tigers before an impressive 3-0 sweep of the Aggies.
Creighton's gauntlet continued three days later when Omaha native Christy Johnson's Iowa State team beat the Jays in four sets at the Civic Auditorium, avenging CU's four-set victory in Ames one season earlier. The Cyclones would endure a magical postseason run in 2008, eventually reaching the Elite Eight.
The following weekend the Bluejays would travel to Jacksonville, Ala., for the Gamecock Invitational. CU dominated host Jacksonville State before a loss to UAB, which included a 16-14 fifth game setback. The Jays would respond with a 3-0 sweep of SEC member Mississippi.
Creighton would then get a rare weekend off in-season when a trip to Texas was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike, which would rock the Houston area, including the Stephen F. Austin campus in nearby Nacogdoches. An attempt was made to find another tournament to play in on less than 48 hours notice, but those efforts would come up empty. In addition to costing CU up to three potential wins, the Jays missed the opportunity to play NCAA qualifier Rice, as well as Southland Conference power Stephen F. Austin and Big 12 contender Oklahoma.
The Jays would alternate wins and losses in its first five MVC matches. Creighton defeated Bradley, Missouri State and Drake, but lost to eventual NCAA qualifiers Northern Iowa and Wichita State in four sets each. The Shockers would go on to win the MVC, ending the regular-season 29-0 before losing two of its final three matches to Missouri State (MVC Tournament) and Texas (NCAA Tournament), while playing their way into the top-10 of the national polls.
For the third straight season, Creighton would host a huge crowd at Qwest Center Omaha. The 2008 trip down 10th Street included a match against No. 2 Nebraska. A crowd of 8,037 fans, as well as a national television audience, saw the Huskers top the Jays in three sets.
The Bluejays followed the Husker match with a five-set win at longtime nemesis Illinois State. Not only did that win get the Jays back to the .500 mark, but it would ignite a 12-1 stretch that carried through the remainder of the Valley slate.
Included in CU's seven-week sprint to the finish was a five-set win at Missouri State and a convincing victory over UNI, the school's first ever sweep of the Panthers. CU wrapped up the regular-season with a 3-0 triumph over Bradley, the final victory in a school-record eight-match win streak.
Knowing an at-large slot would likely go to the victor of its MVC Tournament semifinal contest against Northern Iowa, Creighton would lose a five-set heartbreaker. The Jays trailed 2-0, but would fight hard to overcome a 20-11 fourth-set deficit to force the decisive fifth set. UNI would score the first three points and never trail while taking a 15-8 fifth-set win, ending CU's season.
Creighton's final Valley record of 15-3 was its best mark in school history, as was its final standing in sole possession of second-place.
Led by an outstanding senior class of Korie Lebeda, Bianca Rivera, Amanda Cvejdlik and Carolyn Decker, the Jays boasted a terrific balance that could attack, dig or block with some of the nation's best teams. In fact, CU would end the year ranked as the only school in the top-20 nationally in both digs per set and blocks per set.
Lebeda finished fifth in MVC history with 5,281 assists while starting every match of her career. She became the 13th player ever to earn first-team all-Valley honors in three straight seasons.
Rivera would earn AVCA All-Central Region honorable-mention honors after averaging 5.00 digs per set. Also a second-team all-Valley pick, Rivera smashed CU's records for career digs per set and ranks sixth in school history in total digs despite just two years in blue and white.
Cvejdlik earned first-team all-MVC honors for the first time in her career after averaging 3.01 kills and hitting a solid .240 from her outside hitter spot.
Last but certainly not least is Decker, who led the team with 23 aces and was third in both kills (248) and digs (263) on the year.
Valley Defensive Player of the Year Jessica Houts topped Creighton's junior class, leading the team in kills (314), hitting percentage (.287), block solos (14), block assists (121), total blocks (135) and blocks per set (1.35). Houts was a first-team all-Valley and all-Central Region selection who also earned AVCA All-American honorable-mention plaudits as well.
Joining Houts on the front line was junior middle blocker Lauren Bloemke started all 27 matches on CU's front line. She was second on the team in blocking (0.81 bps.) and fifth in kills per set (1.40) while also placing second with her .280 hitting percentage.
After seeing plenty of time as an outside hitter her first two years, junior Sarah Schulze saw the majority of her time in 2008 as a defensive specialist. Schulze averaged 1.94 digs per set and was one of five players to appear in all 100 sets.
Sophomore Allie Oelke played in all 27 matches, starting 25, as an outside hitter. Oelke rebounded from an abdominal injury that limited her play at the Gamecock Invitational to average 1.77 kills, 1.99 digs and 0.54 blocks per set. For a second straight season Oelke produced a double-double at the MVC Tournament, finishing with 16 kills and 10 digs in the season-ending loss to UNI.
Fellow sophomore Melanie Feldman saw increased time as the season played out as a defensive and serving specialist. Feldman, who hails from the same high school as president-elect Barack Obama, averaged 0.51 digs and also served three aces while playing in 53 sets. Feldman saw time in all but two matches in 2008.
Rounding out the sophomore class was newcomer Emily Crowley. Crowley played in just two sets all season and did not suit up after September 27th due to knee surgery.
Creighton played two freshmen during the 2008 season. Laurel Sanford averaged 1.08 kills and 0.46 blocks while hitting .373 in 37 sets. Additionally, Karisa Almgren played in seven sets and finished with five kills, a block and an ace in limited time.
Two other Jays, junior MB Alicia Runge and freshman S Megan Bober, did not play while redshirting.
Despite the loss of four talented seniors, the addition of redshirts Runge and Bober to the mix, plus the infusion of three highly-touted recruits, should provide high hopes for the future of Bluejay Volleyball.
Radio Broadcast Review
Creighton had 20 of its matches (14 home, 5 road, 1 neutral) broadcast on radio this season on KVSS (88.9 FM), as well as on http://www.kvss.com. Brad Burwell did play-by-play, while Erin Swanson (home matches), Rob Anderson (road matches) and Katie Mehal (one home match) shared the analyst role.
Video Webcast Review
All home matches and several away matches were video webcast at www.gocreighton.com. Fans could 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 Review
All Creighton home matches, as well as most road contests, featured live stats on-line at www.gocreighton.com. Fans could click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page for additional info.
Television Review
Creighton went 0-1 in matches played on television this season. Creighton's loss to Nebraska on October 5th was televised nationwide on CBS College Sports TV and statewide on NET-1.
The Coaches
Creighton was coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 106-72 record after six seasons 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 and joined the 100-win club with an Oct. 31, 2008 win at Drake.
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 was helped by associate head coach Paul Giesselmann, assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Adam Ybarra.
Narrow Miss To The NCAA's
For the second straight season, Creighton narrowly missed an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays had an RPI of 44 on Selection Sunday, second-best among teams not selected to the event. Only No. 43 Houston was better and left without a bid. Iowa State's No. 51 RPI ranking was the highest at-large team to earn a spot in the field.
All nine of Creighton's losses came to teams that made the field as an at-large selection. Creighton also defeated three teams that made the field, including two wins over Missouri State and one over UNI.
Creighton finished second in the nation's ninth-best conference, the Missouri Valley, while capturing a school-record 15 league wins. Creighton's non-conference strength of schedule ranked seventh-best nationally, as well.
This is the second year that the Missouri Valley Conference had three or more teams make the field of 64. However, it was also the second straight year Creighton saw a team that it finished two or more games ahead of in the standings and beat in the regular-season get in as an at-large pick.
Houts, Rivera Honored By AVCA
Jessica Houts and Bianca Rivera were both recognized by the AVCA for their performance during the 2008 season.
Houts was named first-team all-Central Region as well as an honorable-mention All-American. She joined 2007 honoree Kelly Goc as the only Bluejay in volleyball history earn such a lofty award.
Rivera was named honorable-mention all-Central Region.
Rivera Named All-Tournament
Senior libero Bianca Rivera was Creighton's lone representative named to the MVC's All-Tournament Team. Rivera had 30 digs and seven assists in CU's match against Northern Iowa.
This is the second straight year that Rivera was named to the all-Tourney squad at the event.
Rivera is Creighton's second-ever player to be named all-Tourney in consecutive years, joining Melissa Walsh (1999, 2000).
All-Conference Trio
Jessica Houts, Korie Lebeda and Amanda Cvejdlik were each named first-team all-MVC, while Bianca Rivera was a second-team all-Valley pick.
It was Lebeda's third straight honor and the first time on the first team for both Houts and Cvejdlik.
This is the first time that Creighton has had three first-team all-MVC picks in the same season but third consecutive season of two or more honorees on the first-team.
Academically Speaking
Creighton had a pair of volleyball players land a spot on the MVC's Scholar-Athlete First Team.
Korie Lebeda was also a first-team selection in 2006 before dropping to the honorable-mention squad last fall. Lebeda owns a 3.377 GPA in Finance/Business Management.
Jessica Houts is a first-time honoree on the squad. She owns a 3.417 GPA in Exercise Science.
Defensive Dominator
Junior MB Jessica Houts garnered Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year accolades after averaging 1.35 blocks and 1.72 digs per set. Those numbers made her the only player in the MVC to average at least one block and one dig per set.
This is the second year of the award, as Sara Thomas (Missouri State) won the first recognition in 2007.
Dig This
For the third straight season, Creighton has been named as one of Collegiate Volleyball Update's top five digging teams nationally. This year the website (CVU.com) honored North Dakota State as its “2008 Deep Digging Team of the Year”, with honorable mention status going to Creighton, Illinois State, Morehead State and Wichita State.
Creighton also finished as one of the top five defensive teams nationally according to CVU.com. The site honored Penn State as its “Defensive Team of the Year”, with Wichita State, Creighton, North Carolina and North Dakota State earning honorable-mention status.
Panthers End CU's Season, Again
Creighton has seen its season end at the hands of Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament in each of the past four years.
In league history this was just the third time that the same two schools have met in four straight MVC Tournaments. However, only twice (2005-08 UNI over CU and 1998-2001 UNI over ILS) has the same team eliminated another in four straight seasons.
Northern Iowa and Illinois State met in five straight years from 1997-2001. ISU won the 1997 meeting before the Panthers won the next four.
Likewise, from 1986-1990, Missouri State and UNI met five straight years. However, that series saw UNI win three and MSU two.
Defensive Minded Bluejays
In the year-end edition of the NCAA Volleyball statistics, Creighton ranked 12th nationally with 2.70 blocks per set and 18th nationally with 17.20 digs per set.
Creighton was the school in the country to rank in the top-20 of both categories. The categories are typically are opposites, since blocks, by definition, end points and eliminate dig opportunities.
CU was also ranked 55th in assists per set (12.47), 65th in kills per set (13.39), 70th in winning percentage (.667) and 80th in hitting percentage (.228).
Another defensive category not tracked by the NCAA is fewest aces allowed. Creighton allowed just 0.65 aces per set, which amounts to 2.41 aces per match allowed. During the team's final nine matches of the year, CU allowed a grand total of 12 aces in 34 sets played (0.35).
Individually, Jessica Houts was 20th in blocks per set (1.35), 194th in hitting percentage (.287), 211th in kills per set (3.14), Bianca Rivera was 25th in digs per set (5.00), Amanda Cvejdlik was 256th in kills per set (3.01) and Lauren Bloemke was 329th in blocks per set (0.81).
Against Ranked Teams
Creighton went 0-5 against ranked opponents this fall. The Jays are now 0-33 all-time against ranked opponents.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time (0-33)
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
08/29/08 #16 Minnesota L 0-3
08/30/08 #21 LSU L 2-3
09/27/08 #14 Wichita State L 1-3
10/05/08 #2 Nebraska L 0-3
10/24/08 at #12 Wichita State L 0-3
New Facility on the Way
Creighton broke ground on a new athletics facility on October 16, 2007, to be located just northwest 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.
Last Call at the Civic?
Creighton's Nov. 22 contest against Bradley figures to be the last match for Creighton Volleyball at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, as the team is slated to move into the on-campus Ryan Center next fall.
Creighton began playing volleyball at the Civic in the fall of 2003 and went 44-26 overall and 35-19 in MVC play in the venerable facility.
With two wins in its final weekend, the Bluejays set a school record for home wins in a season (at any venue) with nine.
Creighton's current seven-match win streak at the Civic is also the longest victory string in the building by the Bluejay volleyball program.
Win Streak Reached Eight
Creighton won eight straight matches, its longest streak in school history, before falling in the Valley Tournament semifinals to UNI.
The Jays have had at least one streak of four straight wins in all six seasons under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who took over after the 2002 team went 3-23.
Most Consecutive Wins, Creighton History
Wins Dates Snapped By
8 Oct. 25, 2008-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. UNI, 3-2
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
6 Sept. 21-Oct. 6, 2007 Wichita State, 3-0
5 Sept. 24-Oct. 2, 1999 at Missouri State, 3-0
5 Nov. 4-19, 2005 at UNI, 3-0
5 Aug. 25-Sept. 2, 2006 Iowa, 3-2
5 Sept. 9-16, 2006 at South Dakota State, 3-1
5 Oct. 26-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita State, 3-1
Hot, Hot, Hot
Before losing in the MVC Tournament, Creighton had won 12 of its past 13 matches, the first time in school history its been able to claim that.
First Sets Not Close
Creighton did not have a first set decided by four points or less in any of its last 18 matches, dating all the way to a 27-25 loss at UNI on Sept. 20th.
In fact, Creighton allowed only one team to score more than 17 points in the first set of its eight-match winning streak (Oct. 25-Nov. 22). Additionally in that eight-match win streak, Creighton did not win any set in which it allowed more than 21 points.
She's A Winner
Korie Lebeda played in more wins than anyone else in Creighton's modern (since 1994) volleyball history with 76. Creighton went 76-43 during Lebeda's time on campus after going 47-65 in the four seasons prior.
The previous mark was 73 matches played in as a winner, held by Kelly Goc and Abby Baumann.
Seniors Honored Before Final Home Match
Nov. 22nd marked Senior Night for Creighton seniors Amanda Cvejdlik, Carolyn Decker, Korie Lebeda and Bianca Rivera. In the last four years the quartet owned a record of 76-43, including a pair of 21-10 seasons, and reached the MVC Tournament semifinals three times.
All four rank among the top-10 in at least two career categories at Creighton.
Cvejdlik ranks fifth in points (1200.0), sixth in kills (1,029), kills per set (3.00) and points per set (3.50) and seventh in attack attempts (2,662).
Decker ranks third in aces per set (.297), fifth in aces (89), eighth in points (817.5) and 10th in points per set (2.73).
Lebeda owns Creighton career records for assists (5,281), assists per set (12.34), sets played (428) and matches played (119), fifth in digs (1,130), seventh in block solos (42) and eighth in attack percentage (.237), total blocks (278) and block assists (236).
Rivera is first in digs per set (5.40) and sixth in digs (1,118).
And Who Will Replace Them?
Though it'll be tough to replace Creighton's four outgoing seniors, coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth signed three high school seniors to letters-of-intent to join the program next fall.
Below is a look at the newest members of the Bluejay program:
Name Ht. Pos. Hometown
Brooke Boggs 5-8 OH Wildwood, Mo.
Caitlin Templeton 6-1 OH Rapid City, S.D.
Heather Thorson 6-3 MB Mead, Neb.
Ranked vs. Unranked
While Creighton continues its quest for a first-ever win over a ranked team, the Jays did beat unranked competition on a regular-basis this fall.
Entering the MVC Tournament, the only teams to beat the Jays since the start of October had been No. 3 Nebraska (26-2) and No. 11 Wichita State (29-0).
Creighton had won 14 straight matches vs. unranked teams this fall before dropping its semifinal match to UNI.
Digger's Hotline
Senior libero Bianca Rivera owned 11 or more digs in each of Creighton's last 19 matches, including 11 performances of 20 digs or more in that time. She averaged 5.86 digs per set in the last 19 matches.
Rivera is Creighton's only player ever with two seasons of 450 or more digs.
Rivera owned 27 career matches of 20 or more digs, most in Bluejay history, including a record-tying 38 digs last season at Drake.
Rivera had a season-high 34 digs on Nov. 8 in a win over Illinois State. She owned four different career matches of 30 or more digs, tying Janeen Piller's school record.
Rivera's 27 digs at Southern Illinois on Nov. 14 tied the most in Bluejay history for a three-set match and helped her earn MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Nov. 17.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
27 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
Rivera Serving Team In All Roles
Bianca Rivera had just six aces in the first 19 matches of the year, but took her serving to another level down the stretch. Rivera owned nine aces in her last eight matches alone.
Defensive Display
Creighton had a season-high 106 digs in the Nov. 8 win over Illinois State, easily a season-high.
Creighton owns just six home matches in the last four years in which it has 97 digs or more, but four of those have come against Illinois State.
In that span, Creighton has averaged 25.18 digs in those 17 sets played in Omaha against Illinois State.
Rivera Reaches 1,000 Digs
Defensively, Bianca Rivera owns 1,118 career digs, surpassing the 1,000 mark on Nov. 8 vs. Illinois State as part of a season-high 34 digs.
Earlier this year Korie Lebeda became the fifth player in CU history to reach 1,000 career digs. Rivera and Lebeda entered into the 1,000-dig club this year, joining Melissa Walsh and Kailey Reyes as teammates to pass 1,000 digs in the same season. Walsh and Reyes did so in 2001.
Rivera needed 53 matches to reach 1,000 career digs. Previously, the fewest matches in CU history to reach 1,000 digs has been Reyes, who needed 77 contests.
Most MVC Wins Ever
Creighton has won a school-record 15 MVC matches this year, one more than last year's previous best of 14.
Since the MVC returned to an 18-match Valley slate in 1996, teams with 15 or more league wins have made the NCAA Tournament on 15 of 22 occasions (68.2 percent), but just six of 98 times (6.1 percent) when winning 14 or less league matches.
Duo Reaches 1,000 Kills
Junior Jessica Houts became the sixth player in Creighton history with at least 1,000 kills when she hammered one home against Illinois State on Nov. 8th.
One week later senior Amanda Cvejdlik became the seventh member of that club. Cvejdlik owns 1,029 kills and ranks sixth in CU history in that category.
Creighton had never previously had two players reach 1,000 kills in the same season.
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. Jessica Houts 336 1,054 2005-Pr.
6. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
7. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
8. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
9. Ashley Williams 359 941 2001-04
10. Michelle Prorock 299 815 1994-96
One of Eight
Korie Lebeda surpassed the 5,000-assist milestone on Oct. 31 in a win at Drake, becoming just the eighth player in Missouri Valley Conference history to reach that plateau on a pass to Jessica Houts.
Lebeda, who finished with 5,281 career helpers, faced current No. 3 on that list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey (5,524), on Nov. 8. It was just the third time in MVC history that two players with 5,000 or more assists faced each other.
Jill Arganbright (UNI) faced Chenille Bayless (MSU) on both Nov. 14 and Nov. 29, 2003, after both had more than 5,000 career assists under their belt.
Korie, Korie, Korie
Korie Lebeda has started all 119 matches since coming to campus, passing Melissa Walsh's (1998-01) former record of 107 career starts.
Lebeda's 119 matches played are a school-record, two more than the previous mark of 117.
With 428 career sets played, Lebeda also broke the school record of 411 sets played by Melissa Weisensee (1994-97).
Lebeda has also become the first Bluejay ever to record 1,000 or more assists in four straight seasons.
Lebeda has already joined Weisensee and Kailey Reyes as the third player in Creighton history with more than 1,000 assists and digs.
She finished her career with 5,281 career assists (fifth in MVC history) and 1,130 career digs.
Lebeda has done her work in 428 sets, averaging 12.34 aps., while No. 3 on the list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey, averaged 12.06 aps., but played in significantly more (458) sets.
Lebeda's Creighton teams won seven of the nine head-to-head meetings versus ISU since the two enrolled in college in the fall of 2005.
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. 5,524 Erin Lindsey, ILS 2005-08
4. 5,431 Chenille Bayless, MSU 2000-03
5. 5,281 Korie Lebeda, CU 2005-08
6. 5,137 Megan Mirs, INS 1998-01
Leave it to Lebeda
Korie Lebeda closed her career with 5,281 career assists, 1,130 digs, 411 kills and 278 blocks.
She is one of three players in MVC history with at least 5,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 350 kills and 260 blocks. The other two were Jill Arganbright (UNI, 2000-03) and Chenille Bayless (MSU, 2000-03).
She is the MVC's only player with at least 5,200 assists, 1,100 digs and 275 blocks in a career.
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 5,281 411 1,130 278
Booth Reaches 100 Wins
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth became the first Bluejay volleyball coach to 100 wins with this year's Halloween Night victory at Drake. Booth finished her sixth year with a 106-72 record 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
Kirsten Booth Volleyball 171
Jim Flanery Women's Basketball 175
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 178
Bruce Erickson Women's Soccer 197
Brent Vigness Softball 200
Initiation Ritual
Creighton has won 14 straight matches against first-year coaches dating to an Aug. 27, 2005 setback to Iowa State's Christy Johnson.
Creighton faced eight coaches in their first year a school this season, and beaten all of them (Bradley's Sean Burdette, Indiana State's Traci Dahl, Drake's Phil McDaniel and Myers twice). Last year CU beat the only first-year coach it faced, Charlotte's Chris Redding.
In 2006, Creighton beat the only first-year coach it faced, North Dakota State's Erich Hinterstocker.
In 2005, Creighton went 5-1 against first-year coaches, winning its final four matches after losing to Johnson. However, CU did beat Drake's Amy Farber Knowles and Southern Illinois' Brenda Winkeler twice each, in addition to a season-opening win over Northern Colorado coach Lyndsey Benson.
Computer Math
The volleyball-specific site at richkern.com has published its year-end computer rankings.
Through matches of Dec. 22nd, Creighton was ranked No. 52 in the “Pablo” rankings, second-best in the MVC behind Wichita State (24) and one of six MVC schools to crack the top-111.
Creighton's strength of schedule, based on the average of an opponents RPI, is rated 54th-toughest nationally and ninth-best when only non-conference matches are factored in.
Creighton is 9-0 against teams with a Pablo computer ranking of 112 or worse, and 9-9 against teams in the top-111 nationally.
If you include Wichita State and UNI twice (since both teams beat CU twice), the teams to beat Creighton this year owned a combined record of 215-51 (.808).
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 year-end RPI ranked Creighton 46th 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
2008 51, Iowa State 43, Houston
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
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 20-7 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
Total 35-35 199-224
.500 in MVC Play Guaranteed
Creighton's win at Drake on Oct. 31 gave 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.
Holding The Aces
Creighton did not allow an ace in the Oct. 25 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 13-0 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.
TGIF
Creighton continued its Friday road success streak on Nov. 14 when it visited Southern Illinois.
The Jays have won 13 of their past 14 Friday road matches in MVC play. The only setback in the less three years was the Oct. 24 loss at undefeated Wichita State.
Creighton is 18-7 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 16-11 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 44-29 record at home (.603), but are a remarkably similar 62-43 (.590) 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 35-19 at home but 35-19 on the road in league action. Last year Creighton went 8-1 on the road in MVC play.
Each of the previous two years, CU has been 8-5 at home in all matches but 9-4 in true road contests. This year's club is 8-2 in true road matches, 9-5 at home and 1-2 at neutral sites.
Creighton is 15-3 in the past two years in road MVC matches.
Aces Away
Creighton served up a season-high seven aces in a four-set win over Southern Illinois on Oct. 18th. The Bluejays went 14-1 this year and are 81-18 under coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up more aces than their opponent in a match.
Random Facts
Here's a collection of random facts about Creighton Volleyball.
Creighton is 22-2 all-time when sophomore Allie Oelke hits .168 or better. CU's streak of 19 straight wins under that scenario came to an end in the MVC Tournament.
Creighton was 12-3 this year and 17-3 in the past four years when Carolyn Decker had 10 kills or more.
Creighton was 0-6 this season in sets in which it made nine or more attack errors.
Creighton finished October with a 7-2 record, matching the 2004 team for most October wins in school history.
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 had at least seven kills, seven blocks and seven digs in the same match during six of Creighton's 18 MVC matches this year.
By comparison, the rest of the MVC 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
Jessica Houts, CU 3 7 8 9 11/7
Jessica Houts, CU 4 14 9 8 11/8
Houts Breaks Career Block Assist Record
Junior Jessica Houts broke Creighton's all-time block assist record on Nov. 7 against Indiana State.
She has flown past Ashley Williams (2001-04) old mark of 347. Houts now has 382 block assists in her career.
Oelke Gets Untracked
Sophomore OH Allie Oelke posted 10 or more kills in seven of the final 14 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 8-1 finish in the second half of the MVC slate this fall is its best ever finish for a round-robin trip through the league.
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 8-1 2nd
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 64-73 --
Record Watches
Carolyn Decker served up three aces against Northern Iowa on Nov. 28 to move her team-high total to 23 this fall. Decker owned 89 career aces, fifth-most in Creighton history.
Additionally, Jessica Houts has 443 career blocks and has moved into second on the school's all-time total blocks list, four away from tying Ashley Williams (2001-04) career mark of 447.
Top Crowds of 2008
Creighton hosted 8,037 fans at Qwest Center Omaha for its Oct. 5 match against No. 2 Nebraska. The crowd was the nation's seventh-largest volleyball-only crowd 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. 17,430 NCAA Semifinals, 12/18
2. 14,299 Stanford vs. Penn State, 12/20
3. 13,412 LSU at Nebraska, 9/12
4. 10,570 Wisconsin at Purdue, 10/17
5. 10,126 Penn State at Minnesota, 10/11
6. 8,399 Runza/AVCA Showcase, 8/31
7. 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 averaged 1,403 fans per home match, good enough to rank 26th among the national leaders in volleyball attendance.
In 2007 Creighton finished 14th nationally in attendance and in 2006 the Jays were tied for 16th. Below is a look at the national leaders:
Top Average Home Attendance, 2008
Rk. School Avg.
1. Hawaii 5,944
2. Nebraska 4,769
3. Wisconsin 4,349
4. Minnesota 3,676
5. Wichita State 3,177
6. Penn State 3,050
7. Michigan State 2,601
8. Purdue 2,485
9. Stanford 2,420
10. Colorado State 2,387
11. Texas 2,370
12. Florida 2,289
13. Washington 2,097
14. New Mexico State 1,679
15. Iowa State 1,671
16. Missouri 1,625
17. North Carolina 1,612
18. Georgia Tech 1,594
19. Southern California 1,571
20. New Mexico 1,570
21. Texas A&M 1,539
22. Kansas State 1,514
23. Illinois State 1,437
24. Oregon 1,412
25. Northern Iowa 1,405
26. Creighton 1,403
27. Illinois 1,345
28. Ohio 1,336
29. Ohio State 1,276
30. BYU 1,263
Lebeda Keeps Doubling Up
Senior setter Korie Lebeda's 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 56 career double-doubles were fourth-most in Bluejay history, nine 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
56 Korie Lebeda 2005-08
35 Erin Swanson 1998-01
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 1,545 sets since bringing back volleyball in 1994, winning 737 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 37-13
All We Need Is One
Did you know that the team that scored the first point of a set won 60 of Creighton's 100 sets played this season (.600).
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.
Creighton missed a chance for three solid wins, as it would have faced current RPI foes Rice (25), Oklahoma (65) and Stephen F. Austin (146).
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 was named to the All-Tournament Team at both regular-season events CU played in, and led the squad in kills per set (3.14) and blocks per set (1.35) while also hitting .287.
Decking The Competition
Fifth-year senior Carolyn Decker owned 15 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
-.0096 Bradley 26 27 104 11/22/08
-.0095 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
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 combined for 824 errors (kill errors + set errors + serving errors + ball handling errors + block errors + receiving errors) in 95 sets played to 25.
Creighton had 10 or more errors in 23 of the 34 sets it has lost, averaging 11.18 miscues in those lost sets.
On the other hand, in the 61 sets that Creighton won, it made nine errors or less 48 times and averaged just 7.28 errors per set.
Creighton was 37-3 when making eight errors or less in a set to 25 points, but 24-31 when it made nine or more errors.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 129-7 (.949) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 71-1 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 61-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-144 (.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
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 106-0 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
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 89 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 81-8. CU is 88-12 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. In that same time span, CU is just 18-60 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 played every point of the 2008 season as well.
Lebeda played in 22,139 of a possible 22,151 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.946 percent.
Amazing Amanda
After posting just 88 kills during her junior season, senior OH Amanda Cvejdlik regained the form that saw her post 415 kills as a sophomore. Cvejdlik owned 301 kills this season and had five or more kills in every match.
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. She also had 17 kills at Southern Illinois at Nov. 14.
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.
Production Returned
Creighton returned 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 six years (including 2008) 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 2nd #1
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.
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.
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches were 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 was available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton 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.
The Bluejays finished the year with an 18-9 overall record despite missing three matches when the Ladyjack Invitational in Nacogdoches, Texas, was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike. Like 2007 though, the NCAA Tournament selection committee kept CU wondering what could have been when the Jays were among the last teams left out of the field of 64.
With four starters and its libero back from a 2007 team that finished 21-10, Creighton scheduled aggressively once again in 2008. Five of the nine non-conference teams Creighton faced would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, beginning with the season-opening Bluejay Invitational.
Creighton's home tournament included preseason No. 16 Minnesota, No. 21 LSU and receiving vote-getter Texas A&M and ranked among the nation's top preseason events. The Bluejays would fall to both the Golden Gophers and Tigers before an impressive 3-0 sweep of the Aggies.
Creighton's gauntlet continued three days later when Omaha native Christy Johnson's Iowa State team beat the Jays in four sets at the Civic Auditorium, avenging CU's four-set victory in Ames one season earlier. The Cyclones would endure a magical postseason run in 2008, eventually reaching the Elite Eight.
The following weekend the Bluejays would travel to Jacksonville, Ala., for the Gamecock Invitational. CU dominated host Jacksonville State before a loss to UAB, which included a 16-14 fifth game setback. The Jays would respond with a 3-0 sweep of SEC member Mississippi.
Creighton would then get a rare weekend off in-season when a trip to Texas was cancelled due to Hurricane Ike, which would rock the Houston area, including the Stephen F. Austin campus in nearby Nacogdoches. An attempt was made to find another tournament to play in on less than 48 hours notice, but those efforts would come up empty. In addition to costing CU up to three potential wins, the Jays missed the opportunity to play NCAA qualifier Rice, as well as Southland Conference power Stephen F. Austin and Big 12 contender Oklahoma.
The Jays would alternate wins and losses in its first five MVC matches. Creighton defeated Bradley, Missouri State and Drake, but lost to eventual NCAA qualifiers Northern Iowa and Wichita State in four sets each. The Shockers would go on to win the MVC, ending the regular-season 29-0 before losing two of its final three matches to Missouri State (MVC Tournament) and Texas (NCAA Tournament), while playing their way into the top-10 of the national polls.
For the third straight season, Creighton would host a huge crowd at Qwest Center Omaha. The 2008 trip down 10th Street included a match against No. 2 Nebraska. A crowd of 8,037 fans, as well as a national television audience, saw the Huskers top the Jays in three sets.
The Bluejays followed the Husker match with a five-set win at longtime nemesis Illinois State. Not only did that win get the Jays back to the .500 mark, but it would ignite a 12-1 stretch that carried through the remainder of the Valley slate.
Included in CU's seven-week sprint to the finish was a five-set win at Missouri State and a convincing victory over UNI, the school's first ever sweep of the Panthers. CU wrapped up the regular-season with a 3-0 triumph over Bradley, the final victory in a school-record eight-match win streak.
Knowing an at-large slot would likely go to the victor of its MVC Tournament semifinal contest against Northern Iowa, Creighton would lose a five-set heartbreaker. The Jays trailed 2-0, but would fight hard to overcome a 20-11 fourth-set deficit to force the decisive fifth set. UNI would score the first three points and never trail while taking a 15-8 fifth-set win, ending CU's season.
Creighton's final Valley record of 15-3 was its best mark in school history, as was its final standing in sole possession of second-place.
Led by an outstanding senior class of Korie Lebeda, Bianca Rivera, Amanda Cvejdlik and Carolyn Decker, the Jays boasted a terrific balance that could attack, dig or block with some of the nation's best teams. In fact, CU would end the year ranked as the only school in the top-20 nationally in both digs per set and blocks per set.
Lebeda finished fifth in MVC history with 5,281 assists while starting every match of her career. She became the 13th player ever to earn first-team all-Valley honors in three straight seasons.
Rivera would earn AVCA All-Central Region honorable-mention honors after averaging 5.00 digs per set. Also a second-team all-Valley pick, Rivera smashed CU's records for career digs per set and ranks sixth in school history in total digs despite just two years in blue and white.
Cvejdlik earned first-team all-MVC honors for the first time in her career after averaging 3.01 kills and hitting a solid .240 from her outside hitter spot.
Last but certainly not least is Decker, who led the team with 23 aces and was third in both kills (248) and digs (263) on the year.
Valley Defensive Player of the Year Jessica Houts topped Creighton's junior class, leading the team in kills (314), hitting percentage (.287), block solos (14), block assists (121), total blocks (135) and blocks per set (1.35). Houts was a first-team all-Valley and all-Central Region selection who also earned AVCA All-American honorable-mention plaudits as well.
Joining Houts on the front line was junior middle blocker Lauren Bloemke started all 27 matches on CU's front line. She was second on the team in blocking (0.81 bps.) and fifth in kills per set (1.40) while also placing second with her .280 hitting percentage.
After seeing plenty of time as an outside hitter her first two years, junior Sarah Schulze saw the majority of her time in 2008 as a defensive specialist. Schulze averaged 1.94 digs per set and was one of five players to appear in all 100 sets.
Sophomore Allie Oelke played in all 27 matches, starting 25, as an outside hitter. Oelke rebounded from an abdominal injury that limited her play at the Gamecock Invitational to average 1.77 kills, 1.99 digs and 0.54 blocks per set. For a second straight season Oelke produced a double-double at the MVC Tournament, finishing with 16 kills and 10 digs in the season-ending loss to UNI.
Fellow sophomore Melanie Feldman saw increased time as the season played out as a defensive and serving specialist. Feldman, who hails from the same high school as president-elect Barack Obama, averaged 0.51 digs and also served three aces while playing in 53 sets. Feldman saw time in all but two matches in 2008.
Rounding out the sophomore class was newcomer Emily Crowley. Crowley played in just two sets all season and did not suit up after September 27th due to knee surgery.
Creighton played two freshmen during the 2008 season. Laurel Sanford averaged 1.08 kills and 0.46 blocks while hitting .373 in 37 sets. Additionally, Karisa Almgren played in seven sets and finished with five kills, a block and an ace in limited time.
Two other Jays, junior MB Alicia Runge and freshman S Megan Bober, did not play while redshirting.
Despite the loss of four talented seniors, the addition of redshirts Runge and Bober to the mix, plus the infusion of three highly-touted recruits, should provide high hopes for the future of Bluejay Volleyball.
Radio Broadcast Review
Creighton had 20 of its matches (14 home, 5 road, 1 neutral) broadcast on radio this season on KVSS (88.9 FM), as well as on http://www.kvss.com. Brad Burwell did play-by-play, while Erin Swanson (home matches), Rob Anderson (road matches) and Katie Mehal (one home match) shared the analyst role.
Video Webcast Review
All home matches and several away matches were video webcast at www.gocreighton.com. Fans could 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 Review
All Creighton home matches, as well as most road contests, featured live stats on-line at www.gocreighton.com. Fans could click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page for additional info.
Television Review
Creighton went 0-1 in matches played on television this season. Creighton's loss to Nebraska on October 5th was televised nationwide on CBS College Sports TV and statewide on NET-1.
The Coaches
Creighton was coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 106-72 record after six seasons 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 and joined the 100-win club with an Oct. 31, 2008 win at Drake.
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 was helped by associate head coach Paul Giesselmann, assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Adam Ybarra.
Narrow Miss To The NCAA's
For the second straight season, Creighton narrowly missed an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays had an RPI of 44 on Selection Sunday, second-best among teams not selected to the event. Only No. 43 Houston was better and left without a bid. Iowa State's No. 51 RPI ranking was the highest at-large team to earn a spot in the field.
All nine of Creighton's losses came to teams that made the field as an at-large selection. Creighton also defeated three teams that made the field, including two wins over Missouri State and one over UNI.
Creighton finished second in the nation's ninth-best conference, the Missouri Valley, while capturing a school-record 15 league wins. Creighton's non-conference strength of schedule ranked seventh-best nationally, as well.
This is the second year that the Missouri Valley Conference had three or more teams make the field of 64. However, it was also the second straight year Creighton saw a team that it finished two or more games ahead of in the standings and beat in the regular-season get in as an at-large pick.
Houts, Rivera Honored By AVCA
Jessica Houts and Bianca Rivera were both recognized by the AVCA for their performance during the 2008 season.
Houts was named first-team all-Central Region as well as an honorable-mention All-American. She joined 2007 honoree Kelly Goc as the only Bluejay in volleyball history earn such a lofty award.
Rivera was named honorable-mention all-Central Region.
Rivera Named All-Tournament
Senior libero Bianca Rivera was Creighton's lone representative named to the MVC's All-Tournament Team. Rivera had 30 digs and seven assists in CU's match against Northern Iowa.
This is the second straight year that Rivera was named to the all-Tourney squad at the event.
Rivera is Creighton's second-ever player to be named all-Tourney in consecutive years, joining Melissa Walsh (1999, 2000).
All-Conference Trio
Jessica Houts, Korie Lebeda and Amanda Cvejdlik were each named first-team all-MVC, while Bianca Rivera was a second-team all-Valley pick.
It was Lebeda's third straight honor and the first time on the first team for both Houts and Cvejdlik.
This is the first time that Creighton has had three first-team all-MVC picks in the same season but third consecutive season of two or more honorees on the first-team.
Academically Speaking
Creighton had a pair of volleyball players land a spot on the MVC's Scholar-Athlete First Team.
Korie Lebeda was also a first-team selection in 2006 before dropping to the honorable-mention squad last fall. Lebeda owns a 3.377 GPA in Finance/Business Management.
Jessica Houts is a first-time honoree on the squad. She owns a 3.417 GPA in Exercise Science.
Defensive Dominator
Junior MB Jessica Houts garnered Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year accolades after averaging 1.35 blocks and 1.72 digs per set. Those numbers made her the only player in the MVC to average at least one block and one dig per set.
This is the second year of the award, as Sara Thomas (Missouri State) won the first recognition in 2007.
Dig This
For the third straight season, Creighton has been named as one of Collegiate Volleyball Update's top five digging teams nationally. This year the website (CVU.com) honored North Dakota State as its “2008 Deep Digging Team of the Year”, with honorable mention status going to Creighton, Illinois State, Morehead State and Wichita State.
Creighton also finished as one of the top five defensive teams nationally according to CVU.com. The site honored Penn State as its “Defensive Team of the Year”, with Wichita State, Creighton, North Carolina and North Dakota State earning honorable-mention status.
Panthers End CU's Season, Again
Creighton has seen its season end at the hands of Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament in each of the past four years.
In league history this was just the third time that the same two schools have met in four straight MVC Tournaments. However, only twice (2005-08 UNI over CU and 1998-2001 UNI over ILS) has the same team eliminated another in four straight seasons.
Northern Iowa and Illinois State met in five straight years from 1997-2001. ISU won the 1997 meeting before the Panthers won the next four.
Likewise, from 1986-1990, Missouri State and UNI met five straight years. However, that series saw UNI win three and MSU two.
Defensive Minded Bluejays
In the year-end edition of the NCAA Volleyball statistics, Creighton ranked 12th nationally with 2.70 blocks per set and 18th nationally with 17.20 digs per set.
Creighton was the school in the country to rank in the top-20 of both categories. The categories are typically are opposites, since blocks, by definition, end points and eliminate dig opportunities.
CU was also ranked 55th in assists per set (12.47), 65th in kills per set (13.39), 70th in winning percentage (.667) and 80th in hitting percentage (.228).
Another defensive category not tracked by the NCAA is fewest aces allowed. Creighton allowed just 0.65 aces per set, which amounts to 2.41 aces per match allowed. During the team's final nine matches of the year, CU allowed a grand total of 12 aces in 34 sets played (0.35).
Individually, Jessica Houts was 20th in blocks per set (1.35), 194th in hitting percentage (.287), 211th in kills per set (3.14), Bianca Rivera was 25th in digs per set (5.00), Amanda Cvejdlik was 256th in kills per set (3.01) and Lauren Bloemke was 329th in blocks per set (0.81).
Against Ranked Teams
Creighton went 0-5 against ranked opponents this fall. The Jays are now 0-33 all-time against ranked opponents.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time (0-33)
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
08/29/08 #16 Minnesota L 0-3
08/30/08 #21 LSU L 2-3
09/27/08 #14 Wichita State L 1-3
10/05/08 #2 Nebraska L 0-3
10/24/08 at #12 Wichita State L 0-3
New Facility on the Way
Creighton broke ground on a new athletics facility on October 16, 2007, to be located just northwest 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.
Last Call at the Civic?
Creighton's Nov. 22 contest against Bradley figures to be the last match for Creighton Volleyball at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, as the team is slated to move into the on-campus Ryan Center next fall.
Creighton began playing volleyball at the Civic in the fall of 2003 and went 44-26 overall and 35-19 in MVC play in the venerable facility.
With two wins in its final weekend, the Bluejays set a school record for home wins in a season (at any venue) with nine.
Creighton's current seven-match win streak at the Civic is also the longest victory string in the building by the Bluejay volleyball program.
Win Streak Reached Eight
Creighton won eight straight matches, its longest streak in school history, before falling in the Valley Tournament semifinals to UNI.
The Jays have had at least one streak of four straight wins in all six seasons under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who took over after the 2002 team went 3-23.
Most Consecutive Wins, Creighton History
Wins Dates Snapped By
8 Oct. 25, 2008-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. UNI, 3-2
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
6 Sept. 21-Oct. 6, 2007 Wichita State, 3-0
5 Sept. 24-Oct. 2, 1999 at Missouri State, 3-0
5 Nov. 4-19, 2005 at UNI, 3-0
5 Aug. 25-Sept. 2, 2006 Iowa, 3-2
5 Sept. 9-16, 2006 at South Dakota State, 3-1
5 Oct. 26-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita State, 3-1
Hot, Hot, Hot
Before losing in the MVC Tournament, Creighton had won 12 of its past 13 matches, the first time in school history its been able to claim that.
First Sets Not Close
Creighton did not have a first set decided by four points or less in any of its last 18 matches, dating all the way to a 27-25 loss at UNI on Sept. 20th.
In fact, Creighton allowed only one team to score more than 17 points in the first set of its eight-match winning streak (Oct. 25-Nov. 22). Additionally in that eight-match win streak, Creighton did not win any set in which it allowed more than 21 points.
She's A Winner
Korie Lebeda played in more wins than anyone else in Creighton's modern (since 1994) volleyball history with 76. Creighton went 76-43 during Lebeda's time on campus after going 47-65 in the four seasons prior.
The previous mark was 73 matches played in as a winner, held by Kelly Goc and Abby Baumann.
Seniors Honored Before Final Home Match
Nov. 22nd marked Senior Night for Creighton seniors Amanda Cvejdlik, Carolyn Decker, Korie Lebeda and Bianca Rivera. In the last four years the quartet owned a record of 76-43, including a pair of 21-10 seasons, and reached the MVC Tournament semifinals three times.
All four rank among the top-10 in at least two career categories at Creighton.
Cvejdlik ranks fifth in points (1200.0), sixth in kills (1,029), kills per set (3.00) and points per set (3.50) and seventh in attack attempts (2,662).
Decker ranks third in aces per set (.297), fifth in aces (89), eighth in points (817.5) and 10th in points per set (2.73).
Lebeda owns Creighton career records for assists (5,281), assists per set (12.34), sets played (428) and matches played (119), fifth in digs (1,130), seventh in block solos (42) and eighth in attack percentage (.237), total blocks (278) and block assists (236).
Rivera is first in digs per set (5.40) and sixth in digs (1,118).
And Who Will Replace Them?
Though it'll be tough to replace Creighton's four outgoing seniors, coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth signed three high school seniors to letters-of-intent to join the program next fall.
Below is a look at the newest members of the Bluejay program:
Name Ht. Pos. Hometown
Brooke Boggs 5-8 OH Wildwood, Mo.
Caitlin Templeton 6-1 OH Rapid City, S.D.
Heather Thorson 6-3 MB Mead, Neb.
Ranked vs. Unranked
While Creighton continues its quest for a first-ever win over a ranked team, the Jays did beat unranked competition on a regular-basis this fall.
Entering the MVC Tournament, the only teams to beat the Jays since the start of October had been No. 3 Nebraska (26-2) and No. 11 Wichita State (29-0).
Creighton had won 14 straight matches vs. unranked teams this fall before dropping its semifinal match to UNI.
Digger's Hotline
Senior libero Bianca Rivera owned 11 or more digs in each of Creighton's last 19 matches, including 11 performances of 20 digs or more in that time. She averaged 5.86 digs per set in the last 19 matches.
Rivera is Creighton's only player ever with two seasons of 450 or more digs.
Rivera owned 27 career matches of 20 or more digs, most in Bluejay history, including a record-tying 38 digs last season at Drake.
Rivera had a season-high 34 digs on Nov. 8 in a win over Illinois State. She owned four different career matches of 30 or more digs, tying Janeen Piller's school record.
Rivera's 27 digs at Southern Illinois on Nov. 14 tied the most in Bluejay history for a three-set match and helped her earn MVC Defensive Player of the Week honors on Nov. 17.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
27 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
Rivera Serving Team In All Roles
Bianca Rivera had just six aces in the first 19 matches of the year, but took her serving to another level down the stretch. Rivera owned nine aces in her last eight matches alone.
Defensive Display
Creighton had a season-high 106 digs in the Nov. 8 win over Illinois State, easily a season-high.
Creighton owns just six home matches in the last four years in which it has 97 digs or more, but four of those have come against Illinois State.
In that span, Creighton has averaged 25.18 digs in those 17 sets played in Omaha against Illinois State.
Rivera Reaches 1,000 Digs
Defensively, Bianca Rivera owns 1,118 career digs, surpassing the 1,000 mark on Nov. 8 vs. Illinois State as part of a season-high 34 digs.
Earlier this year Korie Lebeda became the fifth player in CU history to reach 1,000 career digs. Rivera and Lebeda entered into the 1,000-dig club this year, joining Melissa Walsh and Kailey Reyes as teammates to pass 1,000 digs in the same season. Walsh and Reyes did so in 2001.
Rivera needed 53 matches to reach 1,000 career digs. Previously, the fewest matches in CU history to reach 1,000 digs has been Reyes, who needed 77 contests.
Most MVC Wins Ever
Creighton has won a school-record 15 MVC matches this year, one more than last year's previous best of 14.
Since the MVC returned to an 18-match Valley slate in 1996, teams with 15 or more league wins have made the NCAA Tournament on 15 of 22 occasions (68.2 percent), but just six of 98 times (6.1 percent) when winning 14 or less league matches.
Duo Reaches 1,000 Kills
Junior Jessica Houts became the sixth player in Creighton history with at least 1,000 kills when she hammered one home against Illinois State on Nov. 8th.
One week later senior Amanda Cvejdlik became the seventh member of that club. Cvejdlik owns 1,029 kills and ranks sixth in CU history in that category.
Creighton had never previously had two players reach 1,000 kills in the same season.
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. Jessica Houts 336 1,054 2005-Pr.
6. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
7. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
8. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
9. Ashley Williams 359 941 2001-04
10. Michelle Prorock 299 815 1994-96
One of Eight
Korie Lebeda surpassed the 5,000-assist milestone on Oct. 31 in a win at Drake, becoming just the eighth player in Missouri Valley Conference history to reach that plateau on a pass to Jessica Houts.
Lebeda, who finished with 5,281 career helpers, faced current No. 3 on that list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey (5,524), on Nov. 8. It was just the third time in MVC history that two players with 5,000 or more assists faced each other.
Jill Arganbright (UNI) faced Chenille Bayless (MSU) on both Nov. 14 and Nov. 29, 2003, after both had more than 5,000 career assists under their belt.
Korie, Korie, Korie
Korie Lebeda has started all 119 matches since coming to campus, passing Melissa Walsh's (1998-01) former record of 107 career starts.
Lebeda's 119 matches played are a school-record, two more than the previous mark of 117.
With 428 career sets played, Lebeda also broke the school record of 411 sets played by Melissa Weisensee (1994-97).
Lebeda has also become the first Bluejay ever to record 1,000 or more assists in four straight seasons.
Lebeda has already joined Weisensee and Kailey Reyes as the third player in Creighton history with more than 1,000 assists and digs.
She finished her career with 5,281 career assists (fifth in MVC history) and 1,130 career digs.
Lebeda has done her work in 428 sets, averaging 12.34 aps., while No. 3 on the list, Illinois State's Erin Lindsey, averaged 12.06 aps., but played in significantly more (458) sets.
Lebeda's Creighton teams won seven of the nine head-to-head meetings versus ISU since the two enrolled in college in the fall of 2005.
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. 5,524 Erin Lindsey, ILS 2005-08
4. 5,431 Chenille Bayless, MSU 2000-03
5. 5,281 Korie Lebeda, CU 2005-08
6. 5,137 Megan Mirs, INS 1998-01
Leave it to Lebeda
Korie Lebeda closed her career with 5,281 career assists, 1,130 digs, 411 kills and 278 blocks.
She is one of three players in MVC history with at least 5,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 350 kills and 260 blocks. The other two were Jill Arganbright (UNI, 2000-03) and Chenille Bayless (MSU, 2000-03).
She is the MVC's only player with at least 5,200 assists, 1,100 digs and 275 blocks in a career.
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 5,281 411 1,130 278
Booth Reaches 100 Wins
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth became the first Bluejay volleyball coach to 100 wins with this year's Halloween Night victory at Drake. Booth finished her sixth year with a 106-72 record 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
Kirsten Booth Volleyball 171
Jim Flanery Women's Basketball 175
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 178
Bruce Erickson Women's Soccer 197
Brent Vigness Softball 200
Initiation Ritual
Creighton has won 14 straight matches against first-year coaches dating to an Aug. 27, 2005 setback to Iowa State's Christy Johnson.
Creighton faced eight coaches in their first year a school this season, and beaten all of them (Bradley's Sean Burdette, Indiana State's Traci Dahl, Drake's Phil McDaniel and Myers twice). Last year CU beat the only first-year coach it faced, Charlotte's Chris Redding.
In 2006, Creighton beat the only first-year coach it faced, North Dakota State's Erich Hinterstocker.
In 2005, Creighton went 5-1 against first-year coaches, winning its final four matches after losing to Johnson. However, CU did beat Drake's Amy Farber Knowles and Southern Illinois' Brenda Winkeler twice each, in addition to a season-opening win over Northern Colorado coach Lyndsey Benson.
Computer Math
The volleyball-specific site at richkern.com has published its year-end computer rankings.
Through matches of Dec. 22nd, Creighton was ranked No. 52 in the “Pablo” rankings, second-best in the MVC behind Wichita State (24) and one of six MVC schools to crack the top-111.
Creighton's strength of schedule, based on the average of an opponents RPI, is rated 54th-toughest nationally and ninth-best when only non-conference matches are factored in.
Creighton is 9-0 against teams with a Pablo computer ranking of 112 or worse, and 9-9 against teams in the top-111 nationally.
If you include Wichita State and UNI twice (since both teams beat CU twice), the teams to beat Creighton this year owned a combined record of 215-51 (.808).
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 year-end RPI ranked Creighton 46th 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
2008 51, Iowa State 43, Houston
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
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 20-7 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
Total 35-35 199-224
.500 in MVC Play Guaranteed
Creighton's win at Drake on Oct. 31 gave 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.
Holding The Aces
Creighton did not allow an ace in the Oct. 25 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 13-0 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.
TGIF
Creighton continued its Friday road success streak on Nov. 14 when it visited Southern Illinois.
The Jays have won 13 of their past 14 Friday road matches in MVC play. The only setback in the less three years was the Oct. 24 loss at undefeated Wichita State.
Creighton is 18-7 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 16-11 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 44-29 record at home (.603), but are a remarkably similar 62-43 (.590) 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 35-19 at home but 35-19 on the road in league action. Last year Creighton went 8-1 on the road in MVC play.
Each of the previous two years, CU has been 8-5 at home in all matches but 9-4 in true road contests. This year's club is 8-2 in true road matches, 9-5 at home and 1-2 at neutral sites.
Creighton is 15-3 in the past two years in road MVC matches.
Aces Away
Creighton served up a season-high seven aces in a four-set win over Southern Illinois on Oct. 18th. The Bluejays went 14-1 this year and are 81-18 under coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth when serving up more aces than their opponent in a match.
Random Facts
Here's a collection of random facts about Creighton Volleyball.
Creighton is 22-2 all-time when sophomore Allie Oelke hits .168 or better. CU's streak of 19 straight wins under that scenario came to an end in the MVC Tournament.
Creighton was 12-3 this year and 17-3 in the past four years when Carolyn Decker had 10 kills or more.
Creighton was 0-6 this season in sets in which it made nine or more attack errors.
Creighton finished October with a 7-2 record, matching the 2004 team for most October wins in school history.
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 had at least seven kills, seven blocks and seven digs in the same match during six of Creighton's 18 MVC matches this year.
By comparison, the rest of the MVC 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
Jessica Houts, CU 3 7 8 9 11/7
Jessica Houts, CU 4 14 9 8 11/8
Houts Breaks Career Block Assist Record
Junior Jessica Houts broke Creighton's all-time block assist record on Nov. 7 against Indiana State.
She has flown past Ashley Williams (2001-04) old mark of 347. Houts now has 382 block assists in her career.
Oelke Gets Untracked
Sophomore OH Allie Oelke posted 10 or more kills in seven of the final 14 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 8-1 finish in the second half of the MVC slate this fall is its best ever finish for a round-robin trip through the league.
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 8-1 2nd
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 64-73 --
Record Watches
Carolyn Decker served up three aces against Northern Iowa on Nov. 28 to move her team-high total to 23 this fall. Decker owned 89 career aces, fifth-most in Creighton history.
Additionally, Jessica Houts has 443 career blocks and has moved into second on the school's all-time total blocks list, four away from tying Ashley Williams (2001-04) career mark of 447.
Top Crowds of 2008
Creighton hosted 8,037 fans at Qwest Center Omaha for its Oct. 5 match against No. 2 Nebraska. The crowd was the nation's seventh-largest volleyball-only crowd 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. 17,430 NCAA Semifinals, 12/18
2. 14,299 Stanford vs. Penn State, 12/20
3. 13,412 LSU at Nebraska, 9/12
4. 10,570 Wisconsin at Purdue, 10/17
5. 10,126 Penn State at Minnesota, 10/11
6. 8,399 Runza/AVCA Showcase, 8/31
7. 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 averaged 1,403 fans per home match, good enough to rank 26th among the national leaders in volleyball attendance.
In 2007 Creighton finished 14th nationally in attendance and in 2006 the Jays were tied for 16th. Below is a look at the national leaders:
Top Average Home Attendance, 2008
Rk. School Avg.
1. Hawaii 5,944
2. Nebraska 4,769
3. Wisconsin 4,349
4. Minnesota 3,676
5. Wichita State 3,177
6. Penn State 3,050
7. Michigan State 2,601
8. Purdue 2,485
9. Stanford 2,420
10. Colorado State 2,387
11. Texas 2,370
12. Florida 2,289
13. Washington 2,097
14. New Mexico State 1,679
15. Iowa State 1,671
16. Missouri 1,625
17. North Carolina 1,612
18. Georgia Tech 1,594
19. Southern California 1,571
20. New Mexico 1,570
21. Texas A&M 1,539
22. Kansas State 1,514
23. Illinois State 1,437
24. Oregon 1,412
25. Northern Iowa 1,405
26. Creighton 1,403
27. Illinois 1,345
28. Ohio 1,336
29. Ohio State 1,276
30. BYU 1,263
Lebeda Keeps Doubling Up
Senior setter Korie Lebeda's 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 56 career double-doubles were fourth-most in Bluejay history, nine 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
56 Korie Lebeda 2005-08
35 Erin Swanson 1998-01
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 1,545 sets since bringing back volleyball in 1994, winning 737 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 37-13
All We Need Is One
Did you know that the team that scored the first point of a set won 60 of Creighton's 100 sets played this season (.600).
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.
Creighton missed a chance for three solid wins, as it would have faced current RPI foes Rice (25), Oklahoma (65) and Stephen F. Austin (146).
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 was named to the All-Tournament Team at both regular-season events CU played in, and led the squad in kills per set (3.14) and blocks per set (1.35) while also hitting .287.
Decking The Competition
Fifth-year senior Carolyn Decker owned 15 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
-.0096 Bradley 26 27 104 11/22/08
-.0095 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
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 combined for 824 errors (kill errors + set errors + serving errors + ball handling errors + block errors + receiving errors) in 95 sets played to 25.
Creighton had 10 or more errors in 23 of the 34 sets it has lost, averaging 11.18 miscues in those lost sets.
On the other hand, in the 61 sets that Creighton won, it made nine errors or less 48 times and averaged just 7.28 errors per set.
Creighton was 37-3 when making eight errors or less in a set to 25 points, but 24-31 when it made nine or more errors.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 129-7 (.949) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 71-1 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 61-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-144 (.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
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 106-0 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
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 89 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 81-8. CU is 88-12 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. In that same time span, CU is just 18-60 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 played every point of the 2008 season as well.
Lebeda played in 22,139 of a possible 22,151 points since coming to Creighton, good for an astounding 99.946 percent.
Amazing Amanda
After posting just 88 kills during her junior season, senior OH Amanda Cvejdlik regained the form that saw her post 415 kills as a sophomore. Cvejdlik owned 301 kills this season and had five or more kills in every match.
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. She also had 17 kills at Southern Illinois at Nov. 14.
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.
Production Returned
Creighton returned 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 six years (including 2008) 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 2nd #1
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.
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.
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches were 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 was available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton 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.
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