Fall 2009 Year-End Volleyball Recap
1/29/2010 6:00:00 PM | Volleyball
The opening of D.J. Sokol Arena in the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and the first visit of the State Farm MVC Tournament to Omaha highlighted Creighton's 2009 Volleyball season. The first-class facility will give the Bluejays an on-campus home for years to come and the intimate atmosphere helped Creighton to a 10-5 record at home in its inaugural year.
Creighton would open the building with a 3-0 win over Big 12 school Texas Tech on August 28th in the opening match of the Bluejay Invitational. The day featured a memorable dedication ceremony in the morning, followed by the season-opening romp that evening before an enthusiastic crowd of 2,285 students, boosters and community leaders.
One day later No. 10 Illinois would claim the Bluejay Invitational crown, beating both Texas Tech and Creighton. The field was cut to three teams when Tulane dropped out 48 hours before the tournament was to begin when the Green Wave team was hit by the H1N1 virus.
The schedule would get even tougher three nights later when the Jays took on the nation's No. 6 team, Nebraska, at the NU Coliseum.
CU's non-conference gauntlet continued the following weekend in Lawrence, Kan., when CU had a disappointing 0-3 weekend. Creighton lost to a pair of close matches to NCAA Tournament teams (Florida International and Lipscomb) before falling in four sets to host Kansas.
The following weekend CU headed to Dayton, Ohio, where it snapped a rare five-match losing streak with a sweep of Samford. The following afternoon was full of heartbreak, as CU wasted a 2-1 lead in a loss to Connecticut before blowing a 2-0 lead at undefeated Dayton while losing both contests in five sets.
Creighton shook off its 2-8 start, coming home to start Missouri Valley Conference play. The Jays opened league action with a four-set win over Bradley before losing in four sets to eventual MVC champ Northern Iowa. Those matches would mark the final ones of the season for senior MB Lauren Bloemke, who would seek a medical hardship season after never fully recovering from off-season knee surgery.
Creighton would continue its upswing with three wins in its next four matches, including a 3-1 upset of No. 25 Wichita State. That win snapped CU's 0-35 drought against ranked teams, and proved the team could compete with anyone.
The Jays would split their next 16 matches, going 8-8 down the stretch. The stretch included a 3-1 Senior Night win over Evansville on Nov. 14 as well as a 3-0 win at Bradley a week later to close the regular-season. The victory over the Braves clinched a share of fourth-place for CU as well as a sixth-straight season of 10 or more league triumphs.
Creighton then hosted the State Farm MVC Tournament for the first time in program history, a nod to the program's recent success as well as its new facility. Creighton would sweep fifth-seeded Drake in the quarterfinal round before seeing its season end at the hands of Northern Iowa for the fifth consecutive year in the MVC Tournament. The top-seeded Panthers beat CU in three sets en route to eventually winning the tournament title the following day vs. Wichita State.
Statistically Creighton's 2009 season will best be remembered for the record-setting block it put up. Creighton's 3.08 blocks per set, 354.5 total blocks and 599 block assists all shattered previous school records. Creighton would finish the season ranked third nationally in blocks per set, with senior Jessica Houts (1.44 bps.) finishing 12th-best nationally and sophomore Laurel Sanford (1.30) not far behind at 25th in the country.
Houts enjoyed a memorable senior year on campus, repeating first-team all-MVC accolades. Houts led Creighton in kills (331), kills per set (2.88), hitting percentage (.254), total blocks (166), block assists (154), and blocks per set (1.44) while doing a little bit of everything.
Allie Oelke enjoyed a solid junior season, ranking second on the team with 2.64 kills and 3.30 digs and fourth with 0.73 blocks per set. Oelke also turned in a team-best 12 double-doubles on the season.
Sanford was fourth on the team in kills per set but second in blocks while making tremendous strides in her development as an all-around force.
Senior Sarah Schulze started most matches as well, averaging 1.22 kills and 2.80 digs per set while playing all six rotations. She closed her career in the top-10 in CU history with 1,056 career digs.
After sitting out 2008 as a redshirt, Alicia Runge showed glimpses of brilliance in her junior season. Runge finished third on the team in kills per set (2.37) and played her best ball of the season down the stretch.
Runge was not the only newcomer making an impact, as a talented group of freshmen also were difference-makers.
Megan Bober highlighted that group, starting every match as Creighton's setter and eventually landing a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team. Bober averaged 9.63 assists per set and her 107 blocks and 0.93 blocks per set were both school marks for a Bluejay setter.
Junior-college transfer Nayka Benitez came in to the program to play libero, and delivered 4.49 digs per set. She also would rank in the top-100 nationally with 43 aces and 0.37 aces per set.
Helping to stabilize the back row with Benitez was defensive specialists Brooke Boggs and Lisa Greisch. Boggs made 11 starts and averaged 1.20 digs per set, while Greisch averaged 1.18 digs per set and made four starts this fall.
Reserve setter Brittany Moon played sparingly, but did contribute two assists and two digs on the season. She did start the third set of a late home match against Southern Illinois, helping CU to a 6-3 lead while Bober was out receiving intravenous fluids.
The Jays also used four other attacking players in a variety of roles.
Senior MB Lauren Bloemke came into the season as a returning starter but would appear in just eight matches due to ongoing complications from off-season knee surgery. Bloemke would see most of her time as a serving specialist.
Sophomore Karisa Almgren gave the Jays a secret weapon off the bench. Almgren had 13 kills and eight blocks in 15 contests as a reserve. Several times during the year Almgren would be called on to provide a spark or to help a struggling offense.
Heather Thorson also was employed in a similar role as Almgren, albeit from the middle. Thorson started Creighton's first six matches on the right side, as well as Creighton's Nov. 20 match at Northern Iowa in hte middle. Thorson would average 0.59 kills and 0.45 blocks during her rookie campaign.
An additional freshman, Caitlin Templeton, would finish the year with two kills in three swings and also contribute one digs and one block in four appearances.
With everyone except Houts and Schulze back for the fall of 2010, hopes remain high that the Bluejays can ride their late-season flurry into another upper-division finish next season.
Radio Broadcast Information
Creighton had 27 matches air on KOIL (1180 AM) or KKAR (1290 AM) this season, as well as being webcast on-line at www.gocreighton.com as well.
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson handled most of the broadcasts, with Amanda Cvejdlik and Rob Anderson also doing some matches.
The pre-match show started approximately 5-15 minutes before first serve. The post-match show also lasted about 15 minutes and included post-match interviews.
Video Webcast Information
All of Creighton's home matches were video webcast in 2009. To sign up, fans could visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Video tab on the left sidebar. An annual subscription cost $69.95, while a monthly subscription cost $11.95 per month.
Live Stats Information
All Creighton matches this season had free live stats. Fans could visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page for links the exact link.
Television Information
Creighton had one match on television in 2009, its Oct. 3rd home match against Missouri State. That contest also doubled as the first televised event from Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena.
The Coaches
Creighton was coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 120-89 record after her seventh season with the Bluejays. She became the program's all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007 with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin 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 Mike Weber.
Scholars and Athletes
Creighton had three women named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.
Senior Jessica Houts (3.52 GPA, Exercise Science) was a repeat honoree on the first team.
Junior Allie Oelke (3.71 GPA, Elementary Education) was named to the first team for the first time in her career.
Additionally, junior Alicia Runge (3.71 GPA, Organizational Communication) earned a spot on the honorable-mention team.
Past MVC Tournament History
Creighton is 4-11 in 11 appearances at the MVC Tournament, with wins coming in 1997 vs. Indiana State, in 2006 against Illinois State, 2007 against Southern Illinois and 2009 against Drake.
Creighton is 4-6 in the quarterfinals and 0-5 in the semifinals. The Bluejays have never reached the final.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-7 all-time in league tournament action.
Revenge Still On The Mind
Northern Iowa has ended the Jays season in the MVC Tournament each of the past five years, including four straight semifinal meetings.
In league history two schools had met in five straight MVC Tournaments on just two previous occasions.
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.
A Minimum of Errors
Creighton hit .349 on Nov. 21 in the win over Bradley, making just six attack errors in 106 attempts.
Creighton's six errors tied for its third-fewest in school history and fewest since having four attack errors vs. Tulsa on Oct. 27, 1995.
Runge Rings The Bell
Junior Alicia Runge finished the year on a six-match hot streak. In that time, Runge hit .396 with 68 kills and only 13 errors in 139 swings. She averaged 3.24 kills per set in that span while also averaging 0.81 blocks per set.
Oelke Double-Digit Dig Streak Reaches 15
Allie Oelke owns 15 straight matches of 10 or more digs. That figure ranks tied for the fourth-longest streak in school history, and is tied for Abby Baumann's mark as longest by a Bluejay outside hitter.
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
15 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Present
14 Mallory Lahm, Oct. 4-Nov. 25, 2005
13 Nayka Benitez, Sept. 12-Oct. 23, 2009
11 Melissa Walsh, Oct. 24, 2000-Aug. 31, 2001
9 Sarah Schulze, Sept. 1-19, 2006
Success Over Drake at Home Continues
Creighton has won 10 of its last 11 home matches against Drake, including the past eight.
Creighton has won the second set in those last 12 matches vs. Drake in Omaha.
Creighton has won at least two sets in each of its last 13 home matches vs. Drake.
History of The Fourth Seed
Including Creighton this year, the fourth seed owns a 9-6 opening-round record in MVC Tournament play since the league went to a six-team tournament format in 1995 and is 18-14 overall. Last year's Missouri State team became the first fourth seed to ever win the tournament.
Creighton is 2-4 all-time as the No. 4 seed, including a 2-2 mark in the quarterfinals.
The fourth seed has now swept the fifth seed in five of the last seven years.
Surprisingly, the match-up between the fourth and fifth seeds has never gone five sets.
In the last 15 years, the fourth-seed has won more than one set in its semifinal match against the top seed just once, that coming last year when Missouri State beat Wichita State.
Below is the list of previous 4/5 match-ups, with “upsets” designated in italics:
Year #4 Seed #5 Seed Result
1995 Missouri St. So. Illinois So. Illinois, 3-1
1996 Missouri St. So. Illinois Missouri St., 3-1
1997 Wichita St. Missouri St. Wichita St., 3-1
1998 Wichita St. Drake Drake, 3-0
1999 Missouri St. Creighton Missouri St., 3-1
2000 Creighton Evansville Evansville, 3-1
2001 Creighton Illinois St. Illinois St., 3-0
2002 Wichita St. Bradley Bradley, 3-0
2003 Illinois St. Indiana St. Illinois St., 3-0
2004 Illinois St. Creighton Illinois St., 3-0
2005 UNI Creighton UNI, 3-0
2006 Creighton Illinois State Creighton 3-1
2007 Missouri St. Illinois State Illinois State 3-0
2008 Missouri St. Illinois State Missouri St. 3-0
2009 Creighton Drake Creighton, 3-0
Record Watch
The Creighton team and players broke and tied various single-season records.
Records Broken
Category Record Active Player
Season Block Assists 143 J. Houts, 154
Block Assists, 4-Set Match 10 J. Houts, 14, 9/4/09
Blocks, 4-Set Match 11 J. Houts, 14, 9/4/09
Career Block Assists 347 J. Houts, 536
Career Total Blocks 447 J. Houts, 609
Career Blocks Per Set 1.25 J. Houts, 1.35
Career Sets Played 428 J. Houts, 451
Career Matches Played 119 J. Houts, 126
Block Assists 475 Team, 599
Total Blocks 307.5 Team, 354.5
Blocks Per Set 2.69 Team, 3.08
Total Blocks, 3-Set Match 17 Team, 20, 10/24/09
Block Assists, 4-Set Match 35 Team, 38, 9/4/09
Total Blocks, 4-Set Match 19 Team, 20, 9/4/09
Home Wins 9 Team, 10
Home Matches, Season 14 Team, 15
Home Win Streak 6 Team, 7
Records Tied
Block Assists, 3-Set Match 34 Team, 34, 10/24/09
Blocks, 3-Set Match 12 J. Houts, 12, 10/24/09
Career Matches Started 119 J. Houts, 119
Defense = Home Wins
Creighton won its last five MVC home matches, and a big reason why was its defense. In those contests, CU averaged 20.56 digs per set and 4.11 blocks per set. Additionally, the Jays allowed just 13 aces in those 18 sets played.
Creighton averaged 3.74 blocks and 19.42 digs per set in nine MVC home matches, going 7-2. However, on the road it was a different story, where CU's averages dropped to just 15.97 digs and 2.66 blocks while going 3-6 in league play.
More Block Records Fall
Creighton broke nearly every blocking record on the books this season.
Creighton's 599 block assists easily outdistance the previous mark of 475, and its overall block total of 354.5 surpasses the previous standard of 307.5.
Additionally, Creighton's 3.08 blocks per set average, which ranked third nationally, is far ahead of last year's record of 2.69, which led the MVC.
Nine Is Fine
Once again, winning nine league matches would have been enough for a team to assure themselves a spot at the State Farm MVC Tournament. Since the league went to an 18-match league schedule and six-team league tournament (1996), all 72 teams with nine or more league wins have qualified for the MVC Tournament.
Teams with eight or more league wins have advanced 77 of 79 times. The first exception was Southern Illinois (8-10) in 1997, which lost a tiebreaker with Indiana State (8-10). The second exception was in 2000, when sixth place Bradley (8-10) was bumped in favor of seventh place Indiana State (7-11) since the Sycamores were hosting the tournament.
Bober Claims Another Freshman Award
Freshman Megan Bober earned her fourth MVC Freshman of the Week Award on Nov. 23rd. Bober averaged 10.57 assists, 3.14 digs, 1.29 blocks and 1.14 kills per set in matches against Northern Iowa and Bradley.
Bober also became the first setter in CU history to surpass 100 blocks in a season and also went over 1,000 assists this fall as well.
Two More Honors
Creighton had two players earn weekly awards from the MVC on Nov. 16th, as Jessica Houts was named Defensive Player of the Week for the second time and Megan Bober earned her third Freshman of the Week accolade.
Houts averaged 3.18 kills, 1.64 digs, 1.82 blocks per set while hitting .256.
Bober averaged 11.27 assists, 2.00 digs, 0.82 kills and 0.64 blocks per set.
A Strong Senior Class
Creighton honored seniors Sarah Schulze and Jessica Houts prior to its final regular-season home match against Evansville on Nov. 14th.
Schulze played in 111 matches and owns 410 kills, 1,056 digs, 102 blocks and 48 aces with the Bluejays. Her 1,056 digs are the most in CU history by an outside hitter. Schulze is also a Dean's List honoree in the classroom, where she owns a 3.61 GPA.
Houts set school records for matches played (126), sets played (451), total blocks (609), block assists (536) and blocks per set (1.35), and also ranks among the top-five in kills (1,385), kills per set (3.07) and attack percentage (.257). Houts was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year last season while also picking up AVCA Honorable-Mention All-America honors.
Two More Jays Headed To The Pros
A pair of teammates on last year's Creighton team recently made the decision to continue their careers professionally.
Setter Korie Lebeda (2005-08) left in late-November to head to Murcia, Spain, where she will play for Voley Murcia. Her season runs from now until March.
Libero Bianca Rivera (2007-08) will return to her home country of Puerto Rico to play in the Puerto Rico Super League. She will play for the Bayamon Cowgirls, just outside of her hometown of San Juan.
Lebeda and Rivera are joined in the professional ranks by Kelly Goc (2004-07), who is playing for Marin Barleti in Tirana, Albania.
Oelke Doubles Up In MVC Tournament
Allie Oelke owns 29 career double-doubles, with all but two coming against Missouri Valley Conference opponents. That includes all 12 of her double-doubles this fall.
She's appeared in five MVC Tournament matches in her career and had a double-double in four of them, averaging 11.8 kills and 13.4 digs per contest.
Houts Sets Two More Records
Senior Jessica Houts set two more school records in the Nov. 10th match against Saint Louis. The match was the 120th of her career, breaking the old mark of 119 held by Korie Lebeda (2005-08).
In addition, the three sets played by Houts give her 430 in her career, two more than the previous standard also held by Lebeda.
Houts finished her career with 126 matches played and 451 sets played.
A Month Of Blocking
Since Oct. 16-17, the Creighton defense has taken a major step up.
The Jays averaged 3.34 blocks per set in those final 14 matches, spearheaded by sophomore Laurel Sanford's 1.67 blocks per set in that stretch. By comparison, Creighton averaged 2.88 blocks per set and Sanford 1.05 blocks per set in the first 17 matches of the season.
Creighton's dig total has improved to 18.42 digs per set in that time as well, compared to 14.00 digs per set before then.
Jays Ink Three Recruits
Three women signed letters-of-intent to continue their volleyball careers at Creighton next fall. All three women will be freshmen next year.
Natalie Hackbarth is a 6'1” outside hitter from Algona, Iowa. She was a first-team all-state pick as a junior.
Lexi Malm is a 6'1” middle blocker from Central City, Neb. She is the only player in Central City High School history to amass 1,000 career kills and was an all-state honorable-mention selection last fall.
Savannah Smith is a 6'2” middle blocker from Oakland, Iowa, who attends Riverside Community High School. Smith is the first player from her school to earn a Division I scholarship.
Setting A Block
Megan Bober set a Creighton single-season record for blocks in a season by a setter with 107 stuffs. That easily outpaces the previous blocking mark by a CU setter of 77 held by Korie Lebeda from 2007.
In addition, Bober's 0.93 blocks per set easily outpaced Lebeda's 0.72 bps., also from the 2007 season.
Bober is the only player in Creighton history to record 100 assists and 100 blocks in the same campaign.
Almgren Steps Up
Sophomore Karisa Almgren had a career night against Drake on Nov. 7th, finishing with new single-match highs of four kills, three blocks, two digs and an assist.
Almgren had checked in to play in the front row for Sarah Schulze with CU trailing 14-11 midway through the first set. She quickly produced two kills, a dig and an assist as Creighton would eventually win that set 25-20.
Houts Moves Up MVC Charts
Jessica Houts owned 536 block assists in her stellar career. The only players ahead of her in league history are Danielle Brazda (658), Molly O'Brien (653) and Ashten Stelken (540).
Oelke Earns MVC's Defensive Weekly Honor
Creighton Volleyball's Allie Oelke was named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 9th. A junior outside hitter from Chanhassen, Minn., Oelke was the third different Bluejay to win the award in the past four weeks, joining Laurel Sanford (Oct. 19) and Jessica Houts (Oct. 26).
Oelke had 10 kills, 17 digs, two blocks and two assists in Creighton's 3-0 win over Drake on Saturday. Oelke's 17 digs led all players in the match and helped pave the way for her team-best eighth double-double of the season.
Oelke hit .296 in the match and had at least three kills and three digs in all three sets.
Oelke has previously been honored by the league as MVC Freshman of the Year in 2007, a season that saw her win MVC Freshman of the Week accolades on four occasions.
Benitez Aces This Test
Junior libero Nayka Benitez served up a remarkable five straight aces in the second set of its Oct. 30th match at Missouri State.
Making her achievement all the more impressive is that MSU was allowing a scant 0.53 aces per set in league play entering the contest.
Benitez's 43 aces rank fifth in CU single-season history and were more than her next two teammates combined this fall.
Houts Named Defensive Player of the Week
Jessica Houts was named the 2008 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, but incredibly, had never been named Valley Defensive Player of the Week until October 26th.
Houts earned her first such honor in recognition of a week that saw her average 2.86 kills, 2.57 blocks and 1.43 digs per set in wins over Illinois State and Indiana State.
On Oct. 23 against Illinois State, she had 15 kills while also becoming the first player in school history to amass 100 or more blocks in four straight years. The following night against Indiana State she tied a 14-year-old school record with 12 blocks in a three-set match.
Houts One of a Kind
Senior Jessica Houts averaged 1.44 blocks per set and 1.14 digs per set this fall. That made her the only player in the country to average more than 1.40 blocks and 1.00 digs per set.
Last year while playing all six rotations Houts was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging an even more impressive 1.35 blocks and 1.72 digs per set, making her the only player in the nation to reach both those standards.
National Block Leaders (FINAL)
Rk. Name, School Sets BPS DPS
1. Johannah Bangert, Illinois 113 1.58 0.42
2. Amanda Gil, UCLA 115 1.57 0.77
3. Sarah Morton, Syracuse 120 1.55 0.59
4. Arielle Wilson, Penn State 122 1.52 0.39
5. Lecia Brown, Louisville 122 1.52 0.67
6. Anna McKinney, Idaho 117 1.50 0.08
7. Erica Jepsen, Portland State 90 1.50 0.24
Meagan Dooley, Pittsburgh 112 1.50 0.49
10. Fatima Balza, Penn State 116 1.47 0.10
11. Debbie Pederson, Idaho 116 1.46 0.51
12. Jessica Houts, Creighton 115 1.44 1.14
13. Lauren Gibbemeyer, Minnesota 127 1.42 0.83
14. Sabel Moffett, Northwestern 118 1.40 0.30
Block Assist Record Falls As Well
Jessica Houts also broke CU's single-season mark for block assists in a season. Houts, with 154 shared stuffs, passed Ashley Williams, who had 143 block assists in 2003. The MVC single-season mark is 188, set by Sabrina Apker in 2004.
Creighton also rewrote the school's block assist record by a team in a single-season. The current team had 599 this year, which smashes the mark of 475 set in 2006.
Schulze Passes 1,000 Digs
Sarah Schulze passed the 1,000 career dig mark on Nov. 13 against Southern Illinois. The senior from Dixon, Ill., finished in seventh place in CU history with 1,056 career digs.
She was the seventh CU player to reach 1,000 career digs, and first Bluejay to do it who spent the majority of her career as an outside hitter.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
2. Kailey Reyes 368 1,258 1998-01
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,240 1998-01
4. Melissa Weisensee 411 1,223 1994-97
5. Korie Lebeda 428 1,130 2005-08
6. Bianca Rivera 207 1,118 2007-08
7. Sarah Schulze 398 1,056 2006-Pr.
8. Abby Baumann 375 935 2004-07
9. Shelly Kapler 388 922 1996-99
10. Allie Oelke 321 917 2007-Pr.
Oelke Doubling Up
Junior Allie Oelke put together double-doubles in 11 of her last 18 matches, and 11 of the 18 MVC matches this fall. That gives her 29 double-dips in her career.
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
29 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
29 Allie Oelke 2007-Pres.
NCAA Stats Update
Creighton ranked third-best nationally with 3.08 blocks per set, according to the final set of NCAA statistics. Idaho topped the nation with 3.23 blocks per set, with three-time defending champ Penn State ranking second. Creighton also ranked 71st in digs per set at 15.92 dps. Those are the only team category that ranked Creighton in the top-125.
Individually, three players ranked in the top-100 of any category. Senior Jessica Houts was 12th in the country with 1.44 blocks per set, trailing the leader Johannah Bangert of Illinois' 1.58 bps. Bluejay teammate Laurel Sanford was 25th with 1.30 blocks per set. Additionally, Nayka Benitez moved to 86th at 4.49 digs per set and was 64th with 0.37 aces per set.
Blocking A Key Stat
Creighton leads the Missouri Valley Conference in blocks per set in league-only (3.1 bps.) matches as well as all matches (3.08 bps.).
Creighton was 13-8 when posting 10 or more blocks, but 1-9 when failing to reach double-digits in that category.
Stuff City
Creighton set all sorts of blocking marks in its Oct. 24 sweep of Indiana State. Creighton's 20 blocks were a school-record for a three-set match and one away from the record for a match of any duration. It also ties the most in the MVC this season with the 20 stuffs CU had against Lipscomb in a four-set match in September.
In addition, Jessica Houts tied a Creighton record for blocks in a three-set match with 12 rejections.
Duo Earned Weekly Awards
Two members of the Creighton volleyball team were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference for their play on October 19th. Sophomore Laurel Sanford was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman Megan Bober is the MVC Freshman of the Week.
A sophomore middle blocker from Eagan, Minn., Sanford averaged a whopping 2.22 blocks per set to go with 2.44 kills and 0.22 digs per set as Creighton split road matches at Evansville and Southern Illinois.
She opened her week with a career-high 16 kills, six more than her previous best, and added eight blocks while hitting .333 in a five-set match at Evansville. She had four kills and two blocks in the fifth set while trying to carry the Bluejays to victory.
One night later Sanford had a huge blocking night, nabbing 12 blocks (1 solo, 11 assists) to go with six kills, in a four-set win at SIU. The 12 blocks for Sanford were second-most in CU history for a four-set match, second-most in the MVC this year and make her the only player in the MVC with two matches of 10 or more blocks this fall.
This was Sanford's first career weekly honor from the MVC.
Bober averaged 11.00 assists, 2.22 digs, 0.89 kills and 0.44 blocks per set and earns her second MVC Freshman of the Week accolade this month (also Oct. 5).
She had a career-high 57 assists on October 16th in a five-set match at Evansville, easily surpassing her previous best of 43 assists. She added eight digs, two aces, three kills and a solo block. Bober closed her weekend with 42 assists, 12 digs, five kills and three blocks in Creighton's 3-1 win at Southern Illinois for the second double-double of her young career.
Friday Night Lights
Creighton had won 10 straight home matches played on a Friday before falling in the MVC Tournament semifinals to Northern Iowa.
Additionally, Creighton is 14-4 in its past 18 Friday road matches in MVC play.
Creighton is 19-10 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 18-14 in MVC road matches played on Saturdays. The Jays are also 0-1 in MVC Sunday road matches and 1-0 in MVC Tuesday road matches under Booth.
Houts Surpasses 100 Blocks, Again
Jessica Houts played in 126 matches in her career, and had at least one block in all but four of them.
On Oct. 23rd, Houts became the first player in CU history to post four different seasons of 100 or more blocks.
How impressive is that? Only six other players in school history have done it even once: JoDe Cieloha (3 times), Ashley Williams (2), Melissa Walsh (2), Sarah Beulke (1), Lauren Bloemke (1), Laurel Sanford (1) and Megan Bober (1).
Benitez Starts 30/30 Club
Junior libero Nayka Benitez became the first player in Creighton history to post 30 or more digs in consecutive matches on October 2nd when she posted a career-high 36 digs in a victory over Wichita State. The contest followed up her previous best, 30 digs at Illinois State, the previous Saturday.
Benitez's 36 digs were tied for the fourth-most of any player in the MVC in any match this fall.
An Impressive Streak Ends
Creighton extended an impressive streak in its Sept. 25th 3-2 win at Indiana State, only to see it snapped the following day against Illinois State. Before the Sept. 26th loss to the Redbirds, the Bluejays had won 13 straight MVC road matches to go five sets, a streak that began in 2000.
During that impressive run, CU owned at least one five-set road win against each of the other nine teams in the MVC.
Date Opponent 5th Set Score
10/14/00 at Indiana State CU 15-12
11/04/00 at Evansville CU 16-14
10/04/03 at Bradley CU 15-6
10/15/04 at Bradley CU 15-11
10/15/05 at Southern Illinois CU 15-8
11/18/05 at Northern Iowa CU 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State CU 17-15
11/18/06 at Evansville CU 15-10
09/11/07 at Drake CU 17-15
09/21/07 at Northern Iowa CU 15-12
10/10/08 at Illinois State CU 15-9
10/25/08 at Missouri State CU 15-12
09/25/08 at Indiana State CU 15-12
Near Triple-Double
Jessica Houts nearly posted Creighton's first triple-double since 2001 when she turned in 15 kills, nine blocks and nine digs in CU's 3-1 win over No. 25 Wichita State on Oct. 2. No Bluejay has put together a triple-double in kills/digs/blocks since JoDe Cieloha in 1996.
The 15-9-9 performance by Houts was her first MVC match this fall with at least seven kills, seven digs and seven blocks. Houts has two, but on a league-wide basis only Wichita State MB Sarah McGee and Bradley's Madelyn Ervin can also claim one this year.
Last season Houts had six of the league's seven 7-7-7 matches in conference action.
7+ Kills, 7+Digs, 7+Blocks in an MVC Match, 2009
Name, School SETS K D B Date
Jessica Houts, CU 4 15 9 9 10/2
Jessica Houts, CU 4 13 7 12 11/14
Sarah McGee, WSU 4 12 8 7 10/2
Madelyn Ervin, BU 5 7 8 7 11/6
Against Ranked Teams
Creighton's 3-1 win over Wichita State on October 2nd marked its first-ever win over a ranked team.
Creighton had entered the match with an 0-35 record all-time against ranked teams, which included an 0-19 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth and 0-11 record at home against ranked foes.
Creighton is now 1-38 all-time against ranked schools. That includes an 0-20 road record.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time
Date Opponent Result
09/01/98 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
09/04/98 vs. #19 Texas A&M (@Pacific) L 0-3
09/05/98 at #11 Pacific L 0-3
09/14/99 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
10/16/99 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/08/00 at #6 Hawai'i L 0-3
10/03/00 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara L 1-3
09/09/01 vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara (at Santa Clara) L 0-3
09/25/01 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/13/01 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
11/09/01 at #18 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/06/02 vs. #13 Pacific (at Columbia, S.C.) 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 #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
08/29/09 #10 Illinois L 0-3
09/01/09 at #6 Nebraska L 0-3
10/02/09 #25 Wichita State W 3-1
11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis L 0-3
11/20/09 at #21 Northern Iowa L 1-3
11/27/09 #20 Northern Iowa L 0-3
Close Doesn't Count
Part of Creighton's struggles can be attributed to its difficulty in winning close sets. Creighton was just 10-17 in sets decided by the minimum two points, a figure that dropped to 1-14 in the team's 17 match losses.
Obstacle Course
Only two individuals in the MVC own 10 or more blocks in multiple matches this season, with both of them playing for Creighton.
Senior Jessica Houts had 14 blocks against Lipscomb (Sept. 4), 12 stuffs against Indiana State (Oct. 24) and 12 blocks against Evansville (Nov. 14), while sophomore teammate Laurel Sanford had 10 blocks against Connecticut on September 12th and 12 blocks at Southern Illinois on Oct. 17th.
Blocked By Bober
Freshman Megan Bober tied a Creighton record for most blocks in a match by a setter when she had nine rejections on Sept. 5 in four sets against Lipscomb. Melissa Weisensee also had nine blocks against Wichita State on Nov. 15, 1996.
Bober, who added 14 digs and 29 assists in the match, nearly recorded CU's first triple-double since 2001 and would have been the first player in school history with double-digits in assists, digs and blocks in the same match.
Dig Leader
Junior libero Nayka Benitez led Creighton in digs in 22 of the team's 31 matches and topped the squad with 516 digs on the year.
Benitez became the second-quickest in CU history to 100 career digs (8 matches), 200 digs (13 matches), 300 digs (18 matches), 400 digs (25 matches) and 500 digs (30 matches).
Below is a list that shows Creighton's quickest players to 100, 200, 300 and 400 digs in a career.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 6 09/02/07 Cal Poly
Nayka Benitez 8 09/12/09 vs. Connecticut
Three Players 10
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Nayka Benitez 13 09/25/09 at Indiana State
Kailey Reyes 16 10/17/98 at Illinois State
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 15 09/28/07 Illinois State
Nayka Benitez 18 10/16/09 at Evansville
Kailey Reyes 25 09/03/99 vs. Gonzaga
Creighton's Quickest Players To 400 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 20 10/13/07 Missouri State
Nayka Benitez 25 11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis
Kailey Reyes 34 09/18/99 at Bradley
Creighton's Quickest Players To 500 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 25 11/02/07 Southern Illinois
Nayka Benitez 30 11/26/09 Drake
Kailey Reyes 41 10/22/99 at Indiana State
Crowd Control?
Creighton attracted the fourth-largest crowd in program history for the Aug. 28 home opener against Texas Tech when 2,285 fans packed D.J. Sokol Arena.
The previous largest on-campus crowd for CU had been 476 for a match vs. Evansville on Nov. 4, 1994.
The previous largest crowd for a home opener had been the 1,227 that saw Middle Tennessee on Aug. 24, 1997.
Below are Creighton's largest home volleyball crowds all-time. The top three crowds took place at Qwest Center Omaha.
Largest Home Crowds, Creighton VB History
Att. Opponent Date CU Result
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3
2,285 Texas Tech 08/2809 W 3-0
1,557 Northern Iowa 11/21/08 W 3-0
1,357 Northern Iowa 10/20/07 L 0-3
1,325 Indiana State 09/29/07 W 3-0
1,319 Northern Iowa 10/06/06 L 2-3
1,227 Middle Tennessee 08/24/07 L 0-3
1,187 Missouri State 10/03/09 L 0-3
Full House
Creighton finished in the top-40 of the nation's attendance leaders for the fourth straight season. Creighton averaged 1,062 fans per match in 2009, a figure that ranked 40th nationally.
Average Attendance Leaders
Rank School Avg. Dates
1. Hawaii 6,423 20
2. Nebraska 4,959 17
3. Wisconsin 4,000 13
4. Minnesota 3,816 15
5. Washington 3,363 11
Others in the MVC Over 1,000
8. Wichita State 2,892 13
14. Northern Iowa 2,077 9
29. Illinois State 1,339 11
40. Creighton 1,062 15
Let's Start With Houts
Senior Jessica Houts has started each of her last 76 matches, a streak that began Oct. 21, 2006 at Drake. Houts has started 119 of her past 120 appearances overall. Those 119 career starts are tied for the school record, also held by Korie Lebeda.
Houts is just the fourth player in Creighton history to make 100 career starts, joining Korie Lebeda (119), Melissa Walsh (107) and Kelly Goc (103).
New Facility Dedicated
The Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena was dedicated on the morning of August 28th in a morning ceremony. There was also a smaller presentation made during the intermission of the Creighton/Texas Tech match later that evening.
Back Home On Campus
The match on Aug. 28 was Creighton's first regular-season contest on campus since playing at the Kiewit Fitness Center from 1994-96.
Since leaving the Kiewit Fitness Center, Creighton had played at five other home venues: Qwest Center Omaha, the Omaha Civic Auditorium and three Omaha high schools (Skutt, Marian and South).
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0
At the start of the conference season, all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools will harbor dreams of a regular-season league title. That statistic includes Northern Iowa this season.
Since the beginning of the Gateway Conference (which later merged to form the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992) in 1983, no school has ever won the regular-season title after dropping its first league match of the season.
Taking it a step further, the 2008 Missouri State team is the only club to win the MVC Tournament after starting 0-1 in league play.
A Fresh Start
Between 2000 and 2008, the only freshmen to start CU's season-opener had been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005) and Allie Oelke (2007). All four of those women went on to earn a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman team.
The Jays started three freshmen in this year's season opener, as Megan Bober, Brooke Boggs and Heather Thorson all earning a starting nod. Bober would earn an all-Freshman Team nod this fall.
Bober Named MVC Freshman of the Week
Megan Bober was named State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week on October 4th. This was her first honor of the season, and she is the only first Bluejay to earn MVC Player, Defensive or Freshman of the Week accolades this fall.
Bober hit .400 while averaging 10.29 assists, 1.86 digs, 1.86 kills and 1.71 blocks in two of her best all-around performances to date against the top two teams in the MVC preseason poll.
She began her week by tying her career highs with 43 assists and seven kills while adding seven blocks and five digs in a 3-1 victory over Wichita State that was CU's first-ever win over a ranked team.
On Saturday, Bober had six kills while hitting .500 and added 29 assists, five blocks and eight digs against MVC co-leader Missouri State.
Another Year, Another Schedule Adjustment
For the second consecutive season, Creighton's non-conference schedule was altered due to a rare occurrence out of its control.
This year, the Tulane volleyball team withdrew from the Bluejay Invitational (Aug. 28-29) after six players showed symptoms of the H1N1 virus, which prevented the squad from travelling.
Last year, Creighton's scheduled participation in the Ladyjack Invitational on the campus of Stephen F. Austin was cancelled due to the fact that the Nacogdoches, Texas school's campus was located in the path of Hurricane Ike. That cost Creighton matches against Oklahoma, Rice and host Stephen F. Austin.
Record Home Win Streak Snapped By Illini
Creighton had its school-record seven-match home win streak snapped on Aug. 29 in a 3-0 loss to No. 10 Illinois. That stretch had started on Oct. 17, 2008 with a win over Evansville and also contained victories over Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Bradley and Texas Tech.
Hitting On All Cylinders
Creighton attacked at a robust .398 clip in its Aug. 28 romp over Texas Tech. That ranks as the fifth-best figure for a match in school history.
Creighton is 48-1 all-time when hitting .300 or better, including 42 straight victories.
Best Creighton Attack Percentage in a Match
Pct. Opponent (K-E-TA) (Sets) Date
.536 vs. Tulsa (41-4-69) (3s) 10-27-95
.495 vs. Liberty (57-8-99) (3s) 09-02-05
.418 vs. Evansville (98-21-184) (4s) 11-02-96
.414 vs. UC Riverside (57-11-111) (3s) 09-02-05
.398 vs. Texas Tech (47-10-93) (3s) 08-28-08
I'll Take Houts For The Block
Jessica Houts broke Creighton's all-time block assist record last Nov. 7 against Indiana State and with 536, she flew past Ashley Williams' (2001-04) old mark of 347.
Houts claimed Creighton's total block record in this year's season-opening 3-0 win over Texas Tech. Her 609 career blocks are many more than Williams' 447, and she became the first player in CU history to reach 500 career total blocks on Sept. 19 vs. Northern Iowa.
Also listed is the MVC's all-time leaders in block assists:
Total Blocks, Creighton History
Name Sets BS BA Tot. Years
1. Jessica Houts 451 73 536 609 2005-Pr.
2. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04
3. JoDe Cieloha 398 106 331 437 1994-97
4. Melissa Walsh 394 46 320 366 1998-01
5. Kelly Goc 394 44 310 354 2004-07
Most Block Assists, MVC History
Name, School Block Assists Years
1. Danielle Brazda, UNI 658 2004-07
2. Molly O'Brien, UNI 653 2000-03
3. Ashten Stelken, UNI 540 2005-08
4. Jessica Houts, CU 536 2005-Pr.
5. Mindy Struckhoff, MSU 527 1985-88
Freshman Setters Nothing New
For the third time in Kirsten Bernthal Booth's seven seasons at Creighton, the Bluejays began the season starting a freshman setter. Both setters on this year's roster, Brittany Moon and Megan Bober, are freshmen, with Bober earning every start this season.
In 2003 with Brittany Coleman starting as a freshman, Creighton improved from 3-23 (in 2002) to 12-18, a nine-win improvement. Coleman set a then-CU record with 1,347 assists while starting all 30 matches.
Creighton then finished 16-14 in 2005 as freshman Korie Lebeda arrived and Coleman was shifted to libero. Lebeda broke Coleman's record with 1,401 assists while averaging a league-record 13.34 assists per set.
Coleman, Lebeda and Bober would all go on to earn a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 137-8 (.945) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 79-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 66-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-152 (.038) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-51 mark in those home matches. Those six comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below:
Date Opponent Sets 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
Dandy Debuts
Nayka Benitez had 15 digs in the season-opening victory over Texas Tech, the most in school history by a player making their debut.
Fellow newcomer Alicia Runge also approached a pair of school records for a debut. Her three blocks were one shy of the record (held by current teammate Lauren Bloemke).
Additionally, Runge's nine kills were tied for second-most in CU history for a debut and the most since Heidi Higginbotham had nine in 1995.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton has eight matches scheduled against teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll. Five of those squads visited D.J. Sokol Arena, including No. 10 Illinois, No. 18 Wichita State, No. 20 Saint Louis and votegetters Tulane and Missouri State.
Creighton also played on the road at preseason No. 3 Nebraska and No. 18 Wichita State as well as votegetter Missouri State.
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 120-0 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 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
Set 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 104 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 94-10. CU is 101-14 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one.
On the other hand, Creighton is just 19-75 in matches under Booth when it drops the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 21-11 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
2009 1-4 14-17
Total 36-39 213-241
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton has been picked fourth 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 Missouri State was second. Northern Iowa was third, Creighton fourth and Southern Illinois fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Evansville, Illinois State, Drake, Bradley and Indiana State.
Eight players were also named preseason all-MVC, including Bluejay senior Jessica Houts.
Each of the past six years Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll.
Year Preseason Pick Finish Move
1994 11th 9th #2
1995 9th 7th #2
1996 9th 6th #3
1997 8th 3rd #5
1998 6th 8th i2
1999 T-7th 5th #2
2000 4th T-4th - -
2001 2nd 4th i2
2002 7th 9th i2
2003 9th T-5th #4
2004 5th 5th - -
2005 5th 5th - -
2006 4th 4th - -
2007 3rd T-2nd #1
2008 3rd 2nd #1
2009 4th T-4th - -
Production Returning
Creighton returned 6-of-12 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Blocks 161.5 (59.9%) 108 (40.1%)
Matches Started 97 (59.9%) 65 (40.1%)
Points 895.5 (52.5%) 809.0 (47.5%)
Kills 693 (51.8%) 646 (48.2%)
Aces 41 (42.7%) 55 (57.3%)
Digs 600 (34.9%) 1120 (65.1%)
Assists 58 (4.7%) 1189 (95.3%)
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics
The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2009 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and are one of nine Division I schools nationwide to win the award in six 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 combined GPA of 3.41.
Last Year Summary
Creighton went 18-9 and narrowly missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays went 15-3 to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference and had a year-end RPI of 46.
Korie Lebeda, Amanda Cvejdlik and Jessica Houts were named first-team all-MVC, while Bianca Rivera was a second-team all-Valley selection. Houts was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Year and AVCA honorable-mention All-American.
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches are sold at all Ticketmaster outlets. Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for youth (18 years of age or younger) for reserved seats and $7 (adult) and $4 (youth) for general admission seating. Children three and under are admitted free.
Season ticket information is available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton has sold approximately 700 season tickets for volleyball this year.
Creighton would open the building with a 3-0 win over Big 12 school Texas Tech on August 28th in the opening match of the Bluejay Invitational. The day featured a memorable dedication ceremony in the morning, followed by the season-opening romp that evening before an enthusiastic crowd of 2,285 students, boosters and community leaders.
One day later No. 10 Illinois would claim the Bluejay Invitational crown, beating both Texas Tech and Creighton. The field was cut to three teams when Tulane dropped out 48 hours before the tournament was to begin when the Green Wave team was hit by the H1N1 virus.
The schedule would get even tougher three nights later when the Jays took on the nation's No. 6 team, Nebraska, at the NU Coliseum.
CU's non-conference gauntlet continued the following weekend in Lawrence, Kan., when CU had a disappointing 0-3 weekend. Creighton lost to a pair of close matches to NCAA Tournament teams (Florida International and Lipscomb) before falling in four sets to host Kansas.
The following weekend CU headed to Dayton, Ohio, where it snapped a rare five-match losing streak with a sweep of Samford. The following afternoon was full of heartbreak, as CU wasted a 2-1 lead in a loss to Connecticut before blowing a 2-0 lead at undefeated Dayton while losing both contests in five sets.
Creighton shook off its 2-8 start, coming home to start Missouri Valley Conference play. The Jays opened league action with a four-set win over Bradley before losing in four sets to eventual MVC champ Northern Iowa. Those matches would mark the final ones of the season for senior MB Lauren Bloemke, who would seek a medical hardship season after never fully recovering from off-season knee surgery.
Creighton would continue its upswing with three wins in its next four matches, including a 3-1 upset of No. 25 Wichita State. That win snapped CU's 0-35 drought against ranked teams, and proved the team could compete with anyone.
The Jays would split their next 16 matches, going 8-8 down the stretch. The stretch included a 3-1 Senior Night win over Evansville on Nov. 14 as well as a 3-0 win at Bradley a week later to close the regular-season. The victory over the Braves clinched a share of fourth-place for CU as well as a sixth-straight season of 10 or more league triumphs.
Creighton then hosted the State Farm MVC Tournament for the first time in program history, a nod to the program's recent success as well as its new facility. Creighton would sweep fifth-seeded Drake in the quarterfinal round before seeing its season end at the hands of Northern Iowa for the fifth consecutive year in the MVC Tournament. The top-seeded Panthers beat CU in three sets en route to eventually winning the tournament title the following day vs. Wichita State.
Statistically Creighton's 2009 season will best be remembered for the record-setting block it put up. Creighton's 3.08 blocks per set, 354.5 total blocks and 599 block assists all shattered previous school records. Creighton would finish the season ranked third nationally in blocks per set, with senior Jessica Houts (1.44 bps.) finishing 12th-best nationally and sophomore Laurel Sanford (1.30) not far behind at 25th in the country.
Houts enjoyed a memorable senior year on campus, repeating first-team all-MVC accolades. Houts led Creighton in kills (331), kills per set (2.88), hitting percentage (.254), total blocks (166), block assists (154), and blocks per set (1.44) while doing a little bit of everything.
Allie Oelke enjoyed a solid junior season, ranking second on the team with 2.64 kills and 3.30 digs and fourth with 0.73 blocks per set. Oelke also turned in a team-best 12 double-doubles on the season.
Sanford was fourth on the team in kills per set but second in blocks while making tremendous strides in her development as an all-around force.
Senior Sarah Schulze started most matches as well, averaging 1.22 kills and 2.80 digs per set while playing all six rotations. She closed her career in the top-10 in CU history with 1,056 career digs.
After sitting out 2008 as a redshirt, Alicia Runge showed glimpses of brilliance in her junior season. Runge finished third on the team in kills per set (2.37) and played her best ball of the season down the stretch.
Runge was not the only newcomer making an impact, as a talented group of freshmen also were difference-makers.
Megan Bober highlighted that group, starting every match as Creighton's setter and eventually landing a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team. Bober averaged 9.63 assists per set and her 107 blocks and 0.93 blocks per set were both school marks for a Bluejay setter.
Junior-college transfer Nayka Benitez came in to the program to play libero, and delivered 4.49 digs per set. She also would rank in the top-100 nationally with 43 aces and 0.37 aces per set.
Helping to stabilize the back row with Benitez was defensive specialists Brooke Boggs and Lisa Greisch. Boggs made 11 starts and averaged 1.20 digs per set, while Greisch averaged 1.18 digs per set and made four starts this fall.
Reserve setter Brittany Moon played sparingly, but did contribute two assists and two digs on the season. She did start the third set of a late home match against Southern Illinois, helping CU to a 6-3 lead while Bober was out receiving intravenous fluids.
The Jays also used four other attacking players in a variety of roles.
Senior MB Lauren Bloemke came into the season as a returning starter but would appear in just eight matches due to ongoing complications from off-season knee surgery. Bloemke would see most of her time as a serving specialist.
Sophomore Karisa Almgren gave the Jays a secret weapon off the bench. Almgren had 13 kills and eight blocks in 15 contests as a reserve. Several times during the year Almgren would be called on to provide a spark or to help a struggling offense.
Heather Thorson also was employed in a similar role as Almgren, albeit from the middle. Thorson started Creighton's first six matches on the right side, as well as Creighton's Nov. 20 match at Northern Iowa in hte middle. Thorson would average 0.59 kills and 0.45 blocks during her rookie campaign.
An additional freshman, Caitlin Templeton, would finish the year with two kills in three swings and also contribute one digs and one block in four appearances.
With everyone except Houts and Schulze back for the fall of 2010, hopes remain high that the Bluejays can ride their late-season flurry into another upper-division finish next season.
Radio Broadcast Information
Creighton had 27 matches air on KOIL (1180 AM) or KKAR (1290 AM) this season, as well as being webcast on-line at www.gocreighton.com as well.
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson handled most of the broadcasts, with Amanda Cvejdlik and Rob Anderson also doing some matches.
The pre-match show started approximately 5-15 minutes before first serve. The post-match show also lasted about 15 minutes and included post-match interviews.
Video Webcast Information
All of Creighton's home matches were video webcast in 2009. To sign up, fans could visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Video tab on the left sidebar. An annual subscription cost $69.95, while a monthly subscription cost $11.95 per month.
Live Stats Information
All Creighton matches this season had free live stats. Fans could visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page for links the exact link.
Television Information
Creighton had one match on television in 2009, its Oct. 3rd home match against Missouri State. That contest also doubled as the first televised event from Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena.
The Coaches
Creighton was coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 120-89 record after her seventh season with the Bluejays. She became the program's all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007 with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin 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 Mike Weber.
Scholars and Athletes
Creighton had three women named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.
Senior Jessica Houts (3.52 GPA, Exercise Science) was a repeat honoree on the first team.
Junior Allie Oelke (3.71 GPA, Elementary Education) was named to the first team for the first time in her career.
Additionally, junior Alicia Runge (3.71 GPA, Organizational Communication) earned a spot on the honorable-mention team.
Past MVC Tournament History
Creighton is 4-11 in 11 appearances at the MVC Tournament, with wins coming in 1997 vs. Indiana State, in 2006 against Illinois State, 2007 against Southern Illinois and 2009 against Drake.
Creighton is 4-6 in the quarterfinals and 0-5 in the semifinals. The Bluejays have never reached the final.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-7 all-time in league tournament action.
Revenge Still On The Mind
Northern Iowa has ended the Jays season in the MVC Tournament each of the past five years, including four straight semifinal meetings.
In league history two schools had met in five straight MVC Tournaments on just two previous occasions.
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.
A Minimum of Errors
Creighton hit .349 on Nov. 21 in the win over Bradley, making just six attack errors in 106 attempts.
Creighton's six errors tied for its third-fewest in school history and fewest since having four attack errors vs. Tulsa on Oct. 27, 1995.
Runge Rings The Bell
Junior Alicia Runge finished the year on a six-match hot streak. In that time, Runge hit .396 with 68 kills and only 13 errors in 139 swings. She averaged 3.24 kills per set in that span while also averaging 0.81 blocks per set.
Oelke Double-Digit Dig Streak Reaches 15
Allie Oelke owns 15 straight matches of 10 or more digs. That figure ranks tied for the fourth-longest streak in school history, and is tied for Abby Baumann's mark as longest by a Bluejay outside hitter.
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
15 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Present
14 Mallory Lahm, Oct. 4-Nov. 25, 2005
13 Nayka Benitez, Sept. 12-Oct. 23, 2009
11 Melissa Walsh, Oct. 24, 2000-Aug. 31, 2001
9 Sarah Schulze, Sept. 1-19, 2006
Success Over Drake at Home Continues
Creighton has won 10 of its last 11 home matches against Drake, including the past eight.
Creighton has won the second set in those last 12 matches vs. Drake in Omaha.
Creighton has won at least two sets in each of its last 13 home matches vs. Drake.
History of The Fourth Seed
Including Creighton this year, the fourth seed owns a 9-6 opening-round record in MVC Tournament play since the league went to a six-team tournament format in 1995 and is 18-14 overall. Last year's Missouri State team became the first fourth seed to ever win the tournament.
Creighton is 2-4 all-time as the No. 4 seed, including a 2-2 mark in the quarterfinals.
The fourth seed has now swept the fifth seed in five of the last seven years.
Surprisingly, the match-up between the fourth and fifth seeds has never gone five sets.
In the last 15 years, the fourth-seed has won more than one set in its semifinal match against the top seed just once, that coming last year when Missouri State beat Wichita State.
Below is the list of previous 4/5 match-ups, with “upsets” designated in italics:
Year #4 Seed #5 Seed Result
1995 Missouri St. So. Illinois So. Illinois, 3-1
1996 Missouri St. So. Illinois Missouri St., 3-1
1997 Wichita St. Missouri St. Wichita St., 3-1
1998 Wichita St. Drake Drake, 3-0
1999 Missouri St. Creighton Missouri St., 3-1
2000 Creighton Evansville Evansville, 3-1
2001 Creighton Illinois St. Illinois St., 3-0
2002 Wichita St. Bradley Bradley, 3-0
2003 Illinois St. Indiana St. Illinois St., 3-0
2004 Illinois St. Creighton Illinois St., 3-0
2005 UNI Creighton UNI, 3-0
2006 Creighton Illinois State Creighton 3-1
2007 Missouri St. Illinois State Illinois State 3-0
2008 Missouri St. Illinois State Missouri St. 3-0
2009 Creighton Drake Creighton, 3-0
Record Watch
The Creighton team and players broke and tied various single-season records.
Records Broken
Category Record Active Player
Season Block Assists 143 J. Houts, 154
Block Assists, 4-Set Match 10 J. Houts, 14, 9/4/09
Blocks, 4-Set Match 11 J. Houts, 14, 9/4/09
Career Block Assists 347 J. Houts, 536
Career Total Blocks 447 J. Houts, 609
Career Blocks Per Set 1.25 J. Houts, 1.35
Career Sets Played 428 J. Houts, 451
Career Matches Played 119 J. Houts, 126
Block Assists 475 Team, 599
Total Blocks 307.5 Team, 354.5
Blocks Per Set 2.69 Team, 3.08
Total Blocks, 3-Set Match 17 Team, 20, 10/24/09
Block Assists, 4-Set Match 35 Team, 38, 9/4/09
Total Blocks, 4-Set Match 19 Team, 20, 9/4/09
Home Wins 9 Team, 10
Home Matches, Season 14 Team, 15
Home Win Streak 6 Team, 7
Records Tied
Block Assists, 3-Set Match 34 Team, 34, 10/24/09
Blocks, 3-Set Match 12 J. Houts, 12, 10/24/09
Career Matches Started 119 J. Houts, 119
Defense = Home Wins
Creighton won its last five MVC home matches, and a big reason why was its defense. In those contests, CU averaged 20.56 digs per set and 4.11 blocks per set. Additionally, the Jays allowed just 13 aces in those 18 sets played.
Creighton averaged 3.74 blocks and 19.42 digs per set in nine MVC home matches, going 7-2. However, on the road it was a different story, where CU's averages dropped to just 15.97 digs and 2.66 blocks while going 3-6 in league play.
More Block Records Fall
Creighton broke nearly every blocking record on the books this season.
Creighton's 599 block assists easily outdistance the previous mark of 475, and its overall block total of 354.5 surpasses the previous standard of 307.5.
Additionally, Creighton's 3.08 blocks per set average, which ranked third nationally, is far ahead of last year's record of 2.69, which led the MVC.
Nine Is Fine
Once again, winning nine league matches would have been enough for a team to assure themselves a spot at the State Farm MVC Tournament. Since the league went to an 18-match league schedule and six-team league tournament (1996), all 72 teams with nine or more league wins have qualified for the MVC Tournament.
Teams with eight or more league wins have advanced 77 of 79 times. The first exception was Southern Illinois (8-10) in 1997, which lost a tiebreaker with Indiana State (8-10). The second exception was in 2000, when sixth place Bradley (8-10) was bumped in favor of seventh place Indiana State (7-11) since the Sycamores were hosting the tournament.
Bober Claims Another Freshman Award
Freshman Megan Bober earned her fourth MVC Freshman of the Week Award on Nov. 23rd. Bober averaged 10.57 assists, 3.14 digs, 1.29 blocks and 1.14 kills per set in matches against Northern Iowa and Bradley.
Bober also became the first setter in CU history to surpass 100 blocks in a season and also went over 1,000 assists this fall as well.
Two More Honors
Creighton had two players earn weekly awards from the MVC on Nov. 16th, as Jessica Houts was named Defensive Player of the Week for the second time and Megan Bober earned her third Freshman of the Week accolade.
Houts averaged 3.18 kills, 1.64 digs, 1.82 blocks per set while hitting .256.
Bober averaged 11.27 assists, 2.00 digs, 0.82 kills and 0.64 blocks per set.
A Strong Senior Class
Creighton honored seniors Sarah Schulze and Jessica Houts prior to its final regular-season home match against Evansville on Nov. 14th.
Schulze played in 111 matches and owns 410 kills, 1,056 digs, 102 blocks and 48 aces with the Bluejays. Her 1,056 digs are the most in CU history by an outside hitter. Schulze is also a Dean's List honoree in the classroom, where she owns a 3.61 GPA.
Houts set school records for matches played (126), sets played (451), total blocks (609), block assists (536) and blocks per set (1.35), and also ranks among the top-five in kills (1,385), kills per set (3.07) and attack percentage (.257). Houts was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year last season while also picking up AVCA Honorable-Mention All-America honors.
Two More Jays Headed To The Pros
A pair of teammates on last year's Creighton team recently made the decision to continue their careers professionally.
Setter Korie Lebeda (2005-08) left in late-November to head to Murcia, Spain, where she will play for Voley Murcia. Her season runs from now until March.
Libero Bianca Rivera (2007-08) will return to her home country of Puerto Rico to play in the Puerto Rico Super League. She will play for the Bayamon Cowgirls, just outside of her hometown of San Juan.
Lebeda and Rivera are joined in the professional ranks by Kelly Goc (2004-07), who is playing for Marin Barleti in Tirana, Albania.
Oelke Doubles Up In MVC Tournament
Allie Oelke owns 29 career double-doubles, with all but two coming against Missouri Valley Conference opponents. That includes all 12 of her double-doubles this fall.
She's appeared in five MVC Tournament matches in her career and had a double-double in four of them, averaging 11.8 kills and 13.4 digs per contest.
Houts Sets Two More Records
Senior Jessica Houts set two more school records in the Nov. 10th match against Saint Louis. The match was the 120th of her career, breaking the old mark of 119 held by Korie Lebeda (2005-08).
In addition, the three sets played by Houts give her 430 in her career, two more than the previous standard also held by Lebeda.
Houts finished her career with 126 matches played and 451 sets played.
A Month Of Blocking
Since Oct. 16-17, the Creighton defense has taken a major step up.
The Jays averaged 3.34 blocks per set in those final 14 matches, spearheaded by sophomore Laurel Sanford's 1.67 blocks per set in that stretch. By comparison, Creighton averaged 2.88 blocks per set and Sanford 1.05 blocks per set in the first 17 matches of the season.
Creighton's dig total has improved to 18.42 digs per set in that time as well, compared to 14.00 digs per set before then.
Jays Ink Three Recruits
Three women signed letters-of-intent to continue their volleyball careers at Creighton next fall. All three women will be freshmen next year.
Natalie Hackbarth is a 6'1” outside hitter from Algona, Iowa. She was a first-team all-state pick as a junior.
Lexi Malm is a 6'1” middle blocker from Central City, Neb. She is the only player in Central City High School history to amass 1,000 career kills and was an all-state honorable-mention selection last fall.
Savannah Smith is a 6'2” middle blocker from Oakland, Iowa, who attends Riverside Community High School. Smith is the first player from her school to earn a Division I scholarship.
Setting A Block
Megan Bober set a Creighton single-season record for blocks in a season by a setter with 107 stuffs. That easily outpaces the previous blocking mark by a CU setter of 77 held by Korie Lebeda from 2007.
In addition, Bober's 0.93 blocks per set easily outpaced Lebeda's 0.72 bps., also from the 2007 season.
Bober is the only player in Creighton history to record 100 assists and 100 blocks in the same campaign.
Almgren Steps Up
Sophomore Karisa Almgren had a career night against Drake on Nov. 7th, finishing with new single-match highs of four kills, three blocks, two digs and an assist.
Almgren had checked in to play in the front row for Sarah Schulze with CU trailing 14-11 midway through the first set. She quickly produced two kills, a dig and an assist as Creighton would eventually win that set 25-20.
Houts Moves Up MVC Charts
Jessica Houts owned 536 block assists in her stellar career. The only players ahead of her in league history are Danielle Brazda (658), Molly O'Brien (653) and Ashten Stelken (540).
Oelke Earns MVC's Defensive Weekly Honor
Creighton Volleyball's Allie Oelke was named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 9th. A junior outside hitter from Chanhassen, Minn., Oelke was the third different Bluejay to win the award in the past four weeks, joining Laurel Sanford (Oct. 19) and Jessica Houts (Oct. 26).
Oelke had 10 kills, 17 digs, two blocks and two assists in Creighton's 3-0 win over Drake on Saturday. Oelke's 17 digs led all players in the match and helped pave the way for her team-best eighth double-double of the season.
Oelke hit .296 in the match and had at least three kills and three digs in all three sets.
Oelke has previously been honored by the league as MVC Freshman of the Year in 2007, a season that saw her win MVC Freshman of the Week accolades on four occasions.
Benitez Aces This Test
Junior libero Nayka Benitez served up a remarkable five straight aces in the second set of its Oct. 30th match at Missouri State.
Making her achievement all the more impressive is that MSU was allowing a scant 0.53 aces per set in league play entering the contest.
Benitez's 43 aces rank fifth in CU single-season history and were more than her next two teammates combined this fall.
Houts Named Defensive Player of the Week
Jessica Houts was named the 2008 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, but incredibly, had never been named Valley Defensive Player of the Week until October 26th.
Houts earned her first such honor in recognition of a week that saw her average 2.86 kills, 2.57 blocks and 1.43 digs per set in wins over Illinois State and Indiana State.
On Oct. 23 against Illinois State, she had 15 kills while also becoming the first player in school history to amass 100 or more blocks in four straight years. The following night against Indiana State she tied a 14-year-old school record with 12 blocks in a three-set match.
Houts One of a Kind
Senior Jessica Houts averaged 1.44 blocks per set and 1.14 digs per set this fall. That made her the only player in the country to average more than 1.40 blocks and 1.00 digs per set.
Last year while playing all six rotations Houts was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging an even more impressive 1.35 blocks and 1.72 digs per set, making her the only player in the nation to reach both those standards.
National Block Leaders (FINAL)
Rk. Name, School Sets BPS DPS
1. Johannah Bangert, Illinois 113 1.58 0.42
2. Amanda Gil, UCLA 115 1.57 0.77
3. Sarah Morton, Syracuse 120 1.55 0.59
4. Arielle Wilson, Penn State 122 1.52 0.39
5. Lecia Brown, Louisville 122 1.52 0.67
6. Anna McKinney, Idaho 117 1.50 0.08
7. Erica Jepsen, Portland State 90 1.50 0.24
Meagan Dooley, Pittsburgh 112 1.50 0.49
10. Fatima Balza, Penn State 116 1.47 0.10
11. Debbie Pederson, Idaho 116 1.46 0.51
12. Jessica Houts, Creighton 115 1.44 1.14
13. Lauren Gibbemeyer, Minnesota 127 1.42 0.83
14. Sabel Moffett, Northwestern 118 1.40 0.30
Block Assist Record Falls As Well
Jessica Houts also broke CU's single-season mark for block assists in a season. Houts, with 154 shared stuffs, passed Ashley Williams, who had 143 block assists in 2003. The MVC single-season mark is 188, set by Sabrina Apker in 2004.
Creighton also rewrote the school's block assist record by a team in a single-season. The current team had 599 this year, which smashes the mark of 475 set in 2006.
Schulze Passes 1,000 Digs
Sarah Schulze passed the 1,000 career dig mark on Nov. 13 against Southern Illinois. The senior from Dixon, Ill., finished in seventh place in CU history with 1,056 career digs.
She was the seventh CU player to reach 1,000 career digs, and first Bluejay to do it who spent the majority of her career as an outside hitter.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
2. Kailey Reyes 368 1,258 1998-01
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,240 1998-01
4. Melissa Weisensee 411 1,223 1994-97
5. Korie Lebeda 428 1,130 2005-08
6. Bianca Rivera 207 1,118 2007-08
7. Sarah Schulze 398 1,056 2006-Pr.
8. Abby Baumann 375 935 2004-07
9. Shelly Kapler 388 922 1996-99
10. Allie Oelke 321 917 2007-Pr.
Oelke Doubling Up
Junior Allie Oelke put together double-doubles in 11 of her last 18 matches, and 11 of the 18 MVC matches this fall. That gives her 29 double-dips in her career.
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
29 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
29 Allie Oelke 2007-Pres.
NCAA Stats Update
Creighton ranked third-best nationally with 3.08 blocks per set, according to the final set of NCAA statistics. Idaho topped the nation with 3.23 blocks per set, with three-time defending champ Penn State ranking second. Creighton also ranked 71st in digs per set at 15.92 dps. Those are the only team category that ranked Creighton in the top-125.
Individually, three players ranked in the top-100 of any category. Senior Jessica Houts was 12th in the country with 1.44 blocks per set, trailing the leader Johannah Bangert of Illinois' 1.58 bps. Bluejay teammate Laurel Sanford was 25th with 1.30 blocks per set. Additionally, Nayka Benitez moved to 86th at 4.49 digs per set and was 64th with 0.37 aces per set.
Blocking A Key Stat
Creighton leads the Missouri Valley Conference in blocks per set in league-only (3.1 bps.) matches as well as all matches (3.08 bps.).
Creighton was 13-8 when posting 10 or more blocks, but 1-9 when failing to reach double-digits in that category.
Stuff City
Creighton set all sorts of blocking marks in its Oct. 24 sweep of Indiana State. Creighton's 20 blocks were a school-record for a three-set match and one away from the record for a match of any duration. It also ties the most in the MVC this season with the 20 stuffs CU had against Lipscomb in a four-set match in September.
In addition, Jessica Houts tied a Creighton record for blocks in a three-set match with 12 rejections.
Duo Earned Weekly Awards
Two members of the Creighton volleyball team were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference for their play on October 19th. Sophomore Laurel Sanford was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman Megan Bober is the MVC Freshman of the Week.
A sophomore middle blocker from Eagan, Minn., Sanford averaged a whopping 2.22 blocks per set to go with 2.44 kills and 0.22 digs per set as Creighton split road matches at Evansville and Southern Illinois.
She opened her week with a career-high 16 kills, six more than her previous best, and added eight blocks while hitting .333 in a five-set match at Evansville. She had four kills and two blocks in the fifth set while trying to carry the Bluejays to victory.
One night later Sanford had a huge blocking night, nabbing 12 blocks (1 solo, 11 assists) to go with six kills, in a four-set win at SIU. The 12 blocks for Sanford were second-most in CU history for a four-set match, second-most in the MVC this year and make her the only player in the MVC with two matches of 10 or more blocks this fall.
This was Sanford's first career weekly honor from the MVC.
Bober averaged 11.00 assists, 2.22 digs, 0.89 kills and 0.44 blocks per set and earns her second MVC Freshman of the Week accolade this month (also Oct. 5).
She had a career-high 57 assists on October 16th in a five-set match at Evansville, easily surpassing her previous best of 43 assists. She added eight digs, two aces, three kills and a solo block. Bober closed her weekend with 42 assists, 12 digs, five kills and three blocks in Creighton's 3-1 win at Southern Illinois for the second double-double of her young career.
Friday Night Lights
Creighton had won 10 straight home matches played on a Friday before falling in the MVC Tournament semifinals to Northern Iowa.
Additionally, Creighton is 14-4 in its past 18 Friday road matches in MVC play.
Creighton is 19-10 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 18-14 in MVC road matches played on Saturdays. The Jays are also 0-1 in MVC Sunday road matches and 1-0 in MVC Tuesday road matches under Booth.
Houts Surpasses 100 Blocks, Again
Jessica Houts played in 126 matches in her career, and had at least one block in all but four of them.
On Oct. 23rd, Houts became the first player in CU history to post four different seasons of 100 or more blocks.
How impressive is that? Only six other players in school history have done it even once: JoDe Cieloha (3 times), Ashley Williams (2), Melissa Walsh (2), Sarah Beulke (1), Lauren Bloemke (1), Laurel Sanford (1) and Megan Bober (1).
Benitez Starts 30/30 Club
Junior libero Nayka Benitez became the first player in Creighton history to post 30 or more digs in consecutive matches on October 2nd when she posted a career-high 36 digs in a victory over Wichita State. The contest followed up her previous best, 30 digs at Illinois State, the previous Saturday.
Benitez's 36 digs were tied for the fourth-most of any player in the MVC in any match this fall.
An Impressive Streak Ends
Creighton extended an impressive streak in its Sept. 25th 3-2 win at Indiana State, only to see it snapped the following day against Illinois State. Before the Sept. 26th loss to the Redbirds, the Bluejays had won 13 straight MVC road matches to go five sets, a streak that began in 2000.
During that impressive run, CU owned at least one five-set road win against each of the other nine teams in the MVC.
Date Opponent 5th Set Score
10/14/00 at Indiana State CU 15-12
11/04/00 at Evansville CU 16-14
10/04/03 at Bradley CU 15-6
10/15/04 at Bradley CU 15-11
10/15/05 at Southern Illinois CU 15-8
11/18/05 at Northern Iowa CU 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State CU 17-15
11/18/06 at Evansville CU 15-10
09/11/07 at Drake CU 17-15
09/21/07 at Northern Iowa CU 15-12
10/10/08 at Illinois State CU 15-9
10/25/08 at Missouri State CU 15-12
09/25/08 at Indiana State CU 15-12
Near Triple-Double
Jessica Houts nearly posted Creighton's first triple-double since 2001 when she turned in 15 kills, nine blocks and nine digs in CU's 3-1 win over No. 25 Wichita State on Oct. 2. No Bluejay has put together a triple-double in kills/digs/blocks since JoDe Cieloha in 1996.
The 15-9-9 performance by Houts was her first MVC match this fall with at least seven kills, seven digs and seven blocks. Houts has two, but on a league-wide basis only Wichita State MB Sarah McGee and Bradley's Madelyn Ervin can also claim one this year.
Last season Houts had six of the league's seven 7-7-7 matches in conference action.
7+ Kills, 7+Digs, 7+Blocks in an MVC Match, 2009
Name, School SETS K D B Date
Jessica Houts, CU 4 15 9 9 10/2
Jessica Houts, CU 4 13 7 12 11/14
Sarah McGee, WSU 4 12 8 7 10/2
Madelyn Ervin, BU 5 7 8 7 11/6
Against Ranked Teams
Creighton's 3-1 win over Wichita State on October 2nd marked its first-ever win over a ranked team.
Creighton had entered the match with an 0-35 record all-time against ranked teams, which included an 0-19 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth and 0-11 record at home against ranked foes.
Creighton is now 1-38 all-time against ranked schools. That includes an 0-20 road record.
Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time
Date Opponent Result
09/01/98 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3
09/04/98 vs. #19 Texas A&M (@Pacific) L 0-3
09/05/98 at #11 Pacific L 0-3
09/14/99 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3
10/16/99 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/08/00 at #6 Hawai'i L 0-3
10/03/00 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara L 1-3
09/09/01 vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara (at Santa Clara) L 0-3
09/25/01 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3
10/13/01 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3
11/09/01 at #18 Northern Iowa L 0-3
09/06/02 vs. #13 Pacific (at Columbia, S.C.) 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 #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
08/29/09 #10 Illinois L 0-3
09/01/09 at #6 Nebraska L 0-3
10/02/09 #25 Wichita State W 3-1
11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis L 0-3
11/20/09 at #21 Northern Iowa L 1-3
11/27/09 #20 Northern Iowa L 0-3
Close Doesn't Count
Part of Creighton's struggles can be attributed to its difficulty in winning close sets. Creighton was just 10-17 in sets decided by the minimum two points, a figure that dropped to 1-14 in the team's 17 match losses.
Obstacle Course
Only two individuals in the MVC own 10 or more blocks in multiple matches this season, with both of them playing for Creighton.
Senior Jessica Houts had 14 blocks against Lipscomb (Sept. 4), 12 stuffs against Indiana State (Oct. 24) and 12 blocks against Evansville (Nov. 14), while sophomore teammate Laurel Sanford had 10 blocks against Connecticut on September 12th and 12 blocks at Southern Illinois on Oct. 17th.
Blocked By Bober
Freshman Megan Bober tied a Creighton record for most blocks in a match by a setter when she had nine rejections on Sept. 5 in four sets against Lipscomb. Melissa Weisensee also had nine blocks against Wichita State on Nov. 15, 1996.
Bober, who added 14 digs and 29 assists in the match, nearly recorded CU's first triple-double since 2001 and would have been the first player in school history with double-digits in assists, digs and blocks in the same match.
Dig Leader
Junior libero Nayka Benitez led Creighton in digs in 22 of the team's 31 matches and topped the squad with 516 digs on the year.
Benitez became the second-quickest in CU history to 100 career digs (8 matches), 200 digs (13 matches), 300 digs (18 matches), 400 digs (25 matches) and 500 digs (30 matches).
Below is a list that shows Creighton's quickest players to 100, 200, 300 and 400 digs in a career.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 6 09/02/07 Cal Poly
Nayka Benitez 8 09/12/09 vs. Connecticut
Three Players 10
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Nayka Benitez 13 09/25/09 at Indiana State
Kailey Reyes 16 10/17/98 at Illinois State
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 15 09/28/07 Illinois State
Nayka Benitez 18 10/16/09 at Evansville
Kailey Reyes 25 09/03/99 vs. Gonzaga
Creighton's Quickest Players To 400 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 20 10/13/07 Missouri State
Nayka Benitez 25 11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis
Kailey Reyes 34 09/18/99 at Bradley
Creighton's Quickest Players To 500 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 25 11/02/07 Southern Illinois
Nayka Benitez 30 11/26/09 Drake
Kailey Reyes 41 10/22/99 at Indiana State
Crowd Control?
Creighton attracted the fourth-largest crowd in program history for the Aug. 28 home opener against Texas Tech when 2,285 fans packed D.J. Sokol Arena.
The previous largest on-campus crowd for CU had been 476 for a match vs. Evansville on Nov. 4, 1994.
The previous largest crowd for a home opener had been the 1,227 that saw Middle Tennessee on Aug. 24, 1997.
Below are Creighton's largest home volleyball crowds all-time. The top three crowds took place at Qwest Center Omaha.
Largest Home Crowds, Creighton VB History
Att. Opponent Date CU Result
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3
2,285 Texas Tech 08/2809 W 3-0
1,557 Northern Iowa 11/21/08 W 3-0
1,357 Northern Iowa 10/20/07 L 0-3
1,325 Indiana State 09/29/07 W 3-0
1,319 Northern Iowa 10/06/06 L 2-3
1,227 Middle Tennessee 08/24/07 L 0-3
1,187 Missouri State 10/03/09 L 0-3
Full House
Creighton finished in the top-40 of the nation's attendance leaders for the fourth straight season. Creighton averaged 1,062 fans per match in 2009, a figure that ranked 40th nationally.
Average Attendance Leaders
Rank School Avg. Dates
1. Hawaii 6,423 20
2. Nebraska 4,959 17
3. Wisconsin 4,000 13
4. Minnesota 3,816 15
5. Washington 3,363 11
Others in the MVC Over 1,000
8. Wichita State 2,892 13
14. Northern Iowa 2,077 9
29. Illinois State 1,339 11
40. Creighton 1,062 15
Let's Start With Houts
Senior Jessica Houts has started each of her last 76 matches, a streak that began Oct. 21, 2006 at Drake. Houts has started 119 of her past 120 appearances overall. Those 119 career starts are tied for the school record, also held by Korie Lebeda.
Houts is just the fourth player in Creighton history to make 100 career starts, joining Korie Lebeda (119), Melissa Walsh (107) and Kelly Goc (103).
New Facility Dedicated
The Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena was dedicated on the morning of August 28th in a morning ceremony. There was also a smaller presentation made during the intermission of the Creighton/Texas Tech match later that evening.
Back Home On Campus
The match on Aug. 28 was Creighton's first regular-season contest on campus since playing at the Kiewit Fitness Center from 1994-96.
Since leaving the Kiewit Fitness Center, Creighton had played at five other home venues: Qwest Center Omaha, the Omaha Civic Auditorium and three Omaha high schools (Skutt, Marian and South).
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0
At the start of the conference season, all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools will harbor dreams of a regular-season league title. That statistic includes Northern Iowa this season.
Since the beginning of the Gateway Conference (which later merged to form the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992) in 1983, no school has ever won the regular-season title after dropping its first league match of the season.
Taking it a step further, the 2008 Missouri State team is the only club to win the MVC Tournament after starting 0-1 in league play.
A Fresh Start
Between 2000 and 2008, the only freshmen to start CU's season-opener had been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005) and Allie Oelke (2007). All four of those women went on to earn a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman team.
The Jays started three freshmen in this year's season opener, as Megan Bober, Brooke Boggs and Heather Thorson all earning a starting nod. Bober would earn an all-Freshman Team nod this fall.
Bober Named MVC Freshman of the Week
Megan Bober was named State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week on October 4th. This was her first honor of the season, and she is the only first Bluejay to earn MVC Player, Defensive or Freshman of the Week accolades this fall.
Bober hit .400 while averaging 10.29 assists, 1.86 digs, 1.86 kills and 1.71 blocks in two of her best all-around performances to date against the top two teams in the MVC preseason poll.
She began her week by tying her career highs with 43 assists and seven kills while adding seven blocks and five digs in a 3-1 victory over Wichita State that was CU's first-ever win over a ranked team.
On Saturday, Bober had six kills while hitting .500 and added 29 assists, five blocks and eight digs against MVC co-leader Missouri State.
Another Year, Another Schedule Adjustment
For the second consecutive season, Creighton's non-conference schedule was altered due to a rare occurrence out of its control.
This year, the Tulane volleyball team withdrew from the Bluejay Invitational (Aug. 28-29) after six players showed symptoms of the H1N1 virus, which prevented the squad from travelling.
Last year, Creighton's scheduled participation in the Ladyjack Invitational on the campus of Stephen F. Austin was cancelled due to the fact that the Nacogdoches, Texas school's campus was located in the path of Hurricane Ike. That cost Creighton matches against Oklahoma, Rice and host Stephen F. Austin.
Record Home Win Streak Snapped By Illini
Creighton had its school-record seven-match home win streak snapped on Aug. 29 in a 3-0 loss to No. 10 Illinois. That stretch had started on Oct. 17, 2008 with a win over Evansville and also contained victories over Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Bradley and Texas Tech.
Hitting On All Cylinders
Creighton attacked at a robust .398 clip in its Aug. 28 romp over Texas Tech. That ranks as the fifth-best figure for a match in school history.
Creighton is 48-1 all-time when hitting .300 or better, including 42 straight victories.
Best Creighton Attack Percentage in a Match
Pct. Opponent (K-E-TA) (Sets) Date
.536 vs. Tulsa (41-4-69) (3s) 10-27-95
.495 vs. Liberty (57-8-99) (3s) 09-02-05
.418 vs. Evansville (98-21-184) (4s) 11-02-96
.414 vs. UC Riverside (57-11-111) (3s) 09-02-05
.398 vs. Texas Tech (47-10-93) (3s) 08-28-08
I'll Take Houts For The Block
Jessica Houts broke Creighton's all-time block assist record last Nov. 7 against Indiana State and with 536, she flew past Ashley Williams' (2001-04) old mark of 347.
Houts claimed Creighton's total block record in this year's season-opening 3-0 win over Texas Tech. Her 609 career blocks are many more than Williams' 447, and she became the first player in CU history to reach 500 career total blocks on Sept. 19 vs. Northern Iowa.
Also listed is the MVC's all-time leaders in block assists:
Total Blocks, Creighton History
Name Sets BS BA Tot. Years
1. Jessica Houts 451 73 536 609 2005-Pr.
2. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04
3. JoDe Cieloha 398 106 331 437 1994-97
4. Melissa Walsh 394 46 320 366 1998-01
5. Kelly Goc 394 44 310 354 2004-07
Most Block Assists, MVC History
Name, School Block Assists Years
1. Danielle Brazda, UNI 658 2004-07
2. Molly O'Brien, UNI 653 2000-03
3. Ashten Stelken, UNI 540 2005-08
4. Jessica Houts, CU 536 2005-Pr.
5. Mindy Struckhoff, MSU 527 1985-88
Freshman Setters Nothing New
For the third time in Kirsten Bernthal Booth's seven seasons at Creighton, the Bluejays began the season starting a freshman setter. Both setters on this year's roster, Brittany Moon and Megan Bober, are freshmen, with Bober earning every start this season.
In 2003 with Brittany Coleman starting as a freshman, Creighton improved from 3-23 (in 2002) to 12-18, a nine-win improvement. Coleman set a then-CU record with 1,347 assists while starting all 30 matches.
Creighton then finished 16-14 in 2005 as freshman Korie Lebeda arrived and Coleman was shifted to libero. Lebeda broke Coleman's record with 1,401 assists while averaging a league-record 13.34 assists per set.
Coleman, Lebeda and Bober would all go on to earn a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 137-8 (.945) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 79-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 66-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-152 (.038) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-51 mark in those home matches. Those six comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below:
Date Opponent Sets 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
Dandy Debuts
Nayka Benitez had 15 digs in the season-opening victory over Texas Tech, the most in school history by a player making their debut.
Fellow newcomer Alicia Runge also approached a pair of school records for a debut. Her three blocks were one shy of the record (held by current teammate Lauren Bloemke).
Additionally, Runge's nine kills were tied for second-most in CU history for a debut and the most since Heidi Higginbotham had nine in 1995.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton has eight matches scheduled against teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll. Five of those squads visited D.J. Sokol Arena, including No. 10 Illinois, No. 18 Wichita State, No. 20 Saint Louis and votegetters Tulane and Missouri State.
Creighton also played on the road at preseason No. 3 Nebraska and No. 18 Wichita State as well as votegetter Missouri State.
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 120-0 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 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
Set 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 104 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 94-10. CU is 101-14 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one.
On the other hand, Creighton is just 19-75 in matches under Booth when it drops the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 21-11 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
2009 1-4 14-17
Total 36-39 213-241
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton has been picked fourth 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 Missouri State was second. Northern Iowa was third, Creighton fourth and Southern Illinois fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Evansville, Illinois State, Drake, Bradley and Indiana State.
Eight players were also named preseason all-MVC, including Bluejay senior Jessica Houts.
Each of the past six years Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll.
Year Preseason Pick Finish Move
1994 11th 9th #2
1995 9th 7th #2
1996 9th 6th #3
1997 8th 3rd #5
1998 6th 8th i2
1999 T-7th 5th #2
2000 4th T-4th - -
2001 2nd 4th i2
2002 7th 9th i2
2003 9th T-5th #4
2004 5th 5th - -
2005 5th 5th - -
2006 4th 4th - -
2007 3rd T-2nd #1
2008 3rd 2nd #1
2009 4th T-4th - -
Production Returning
Creighton returned 6-of-12 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Blocks 161.5 (59.9%) 108 (40.1%)
Matches Started 97 (59.9%) 65 (40.1%)
Points 895.5 (52.5%) 809.0 (47.5%)
Kills 693 (51.8%) 646 (48.2%)
Aces 41 (42.7%) 55 (57.3%)
Digs 600 (34.9%) 1120 (65.1%)
Assists 58 (4.7%) 1189 (95.3%)
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics
The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2009 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and are one of nine Division I schools nationwide to win the award in six 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 combined GPA of 3.41.
Last Year Summary
Creighton went 18-9 and narrowly missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays went 15-3 to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference and had a year-end RPI of 46.
Korie Lebeda, Amanda Cvejdlik and Jessica Houts were named first-team all-MVC, while Bianca Rivera was a second-team all-Valley selection. Houts was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Year and AVCA honorable-mention All-American.
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches are sold at all Ticketmaster outlets. Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for youth (18 years of age or younger) for reserved seats and $7 (adult) and $4 (youth) for general admission seating. Children three and under are admitted free.
Season ticket information is available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton has sold approximately 700 season tickets for volleyball this year.
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