Volleyball Heads To MVC Tournament, Begins Play Thursday vs. Drake
11/23/2010 5:13:00 PM | Volleyball
2010 State Farm MVC Tournament
Cedar Falls, Iowa • McLeod Center
Nov. 25 (Quarterfinals)
Match 1 #6 Drake (23-10, 8-10 MVC) vs. #3 Creighton (18-10, 13-5 MVC) 6 pm
Match 2 #5 Illinois State (18-13, 8-10 MVC) at #4 Missouri State (21-8, 12-6 MVC) 8 pm
Nov. 26 (Semifinals)
Match 3 Match 1 Winner vs. #2 Wichita State (21-6, 14-4 MVC) 5 pm
Match 4 Match 2 Winner vs. #1 Northern Iowa (28-2, 18-0 MVC) 7 pm
Nov. 27 (Championship)
Match 5 Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner (Fox Sports Midwest) 3:37 pm
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball heads to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take part in the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The six-team event begins on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25) with a pair of matches. Third-seeded Creighton (18-10) opens the championship with a 6 pm match against sixth-seeded Drake (23-10). That match will be followed by fifth-seeded Illinois State (18-13) taking on fourth-seeded Missouri State (21-8).
Friday's first semifinal features the Creighton/Drake winner against second-seeded Wichita State (21-6) at 5 pm, followed by the Illinois State/Missouri State victor taking on top-seeded tournament host Northern Iowa (28-2) at 7 pm.
Saturday's championship match on Saturday will take start at 3:37 pm.
McLeod Center (6,650) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, will host the action.
Radio Broadcast Information
All Creighton matches this weekend will be broadcast in Omaha on KOIL (1180 AM). The matches will also be streamed live free on-line at http://www.gocreighton.com, then clicking on the Live Audio tab on the left sidebar.
Brad Burwell and Rob Anderson will call any action on Thursday and Saturday, while Burwell would be joined by Lauren Bloemke on Friday.
Video Webcast Information
All quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be video webcast free of charge as part of the MVC Live package. Greg Halbleib and Linda Dollar will call the action.
Fans can tune in by clicking through links that will be available on either GoCreighton.com or mvc.org.
Saturday's final would not be video webcast.
Television Information
Saturday's final will be televised by Fox Sports Net Midwest, with Greg Halbleib and Linda Dollar on the call.
Due to contractual obligations in the Omaha market, the championship match will air in Omaha on Cox Cable channel 2, and NOT on Cox Cable channel 47.
Below are the coordinates for Saturday's final:
Satellite Coordinates: AMC 16, TR K24, Digital Slot B
Band: Digital KU
Format: SD 16:9
Video Compression: 4:2:2
Modulation: QPSK
Bandwidth: 18 Megahertz
Parameters: FEC 3/4
Symbol Rate: 13.235
Downlink Frequency: 12189 Megahertz Horizontal
On-Air Talent: Greg Halbleib, Linda Dollar
Live Stats Information
This weekend's matches will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page for links the exact link to all Bluejay matches.
Scouting Creighton
Winners of 15 of its last 20 matches, Creighton is 18-10 overall and finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 13-5 league record. The Bluejays were 7-4 on the road, 9-4 at home and 2-2 on neutral floors.
Seniors OH's Alicia Runge (3.87 kps.) and Allie Oelke (2.38 kps., 3.87 dps.) lead the team offensively, while Laurel Sanford (2.52 kps., 1.08 bps.) leads the team in blocks per set. The Jays are 16-6 with Sanford healthy and in the starting line-up this fall, but went 1-4 early in the year when an ankle injury forced her to the sideline.
Megan Bober (10.22 aps., 1.49 kps., 0.90 bps.) is the team's setter. She is the only player in the country to average at least 10.00 assists, 1.00 kills and 0.90 blocks per set.
Helping Creighton rank third nationally in digs per set is senior Nayka Benitez (4.11 dps., 0.37 saps.), freshman Julianne Mandolfo (4.45 dps.) and sophomore Brooke Boggs (2.50 dps.).
Creighton averages 13.44 kills, 18.87 digs, 2.39 blocks and 1.32 aces per set while hitting .216 as a team.
Scouting Drake
After a perfect 15-0 non-conference season, Drake went 8-10 in league play to drop to 23-10 overall.
Senior OH Angela Bys leads Drake with 3.51 kills per set, while her 1,310 attack attempts are nearly more than any two other teammates combined.
Emily Heffernen is second on the team with 2.13 kills and 0.86 blocks per set while leading the team with a .307 hitting percentage.
The Bulldogs employ two setters on a regular basis. Caitlin Johnson averages 6.47 assists per set, while Susan Clausen averages 4.30 assists per set.
Drake libero Alana Wittenburg ranks third nationally in digs per set at 5.82 dps.
As a team, Drake averages 13.52 kills, 0.89 aces, 18.02 digs and 2.23 blocks while hitting .223.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 138-99 record in her eighth 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 is helped by assistant coaches Tom Mendoza and Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Amanda (Gates) Sjuts.
Phil McDaniel (Culver-Stockton College, 1996) is 57-46 in his third season at Drake, which also doubles as his career mark as a head coach. McDaniel spent three seasons as an assistant at both South Dakota State and New Mexico State before heading to Drake. He is assisted by Erin Hirsch and Chris Brees.
Series History vs. Drake
Creighton owns a 20-15 record in 35 all-time meetings with Drake, but Thursday will be the first neutral-site meeting. Creighton has won 14 of the last 17 meetings in the series overall.
Creighton has won nine straight meetings in Omaha, including four straight sweeps and 15 straight set victories vs. the Bulldogs.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 14-3 against Drake and 5-2 versus Phil McDaniel.
Creighton swept Drake in Omaha last season in the only previous MVC Tournament meeting.
This Season vs. Drake
Creighton went 1-1 in two meetings with Drake this season. The Bulldogs won 3-1 in Des Moines (25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22) on Oct. 16, before Creighton won 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18) in Omaha on Nov. 13th.
In the first meeting, Whitney Westrum had 11 kills and 23 digs in her first career spark to pace the Bulldogs, helping to overcome 16 kills from Creighton's Alicia Runge.
In the rematch, Runge had 18 kills and Nayka Benitez had 29 digs as Creighton held Drake to season-lows of 27 kills and .037 hitting.
Combined in the two matches, Runge averaged 4.86 kills and 0.86 blocks per set while hitting .301. The Jays averaged 2.57 blocks and 22.86 digs per set as a team while hitting a collective .208.
MVC Tournament History
Creighton owns a 4-11 all-time record at the MVC Tournament, which includes a 3-7 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 2-8 in neutral site matches, and 1-0 against Drake all-time.
The Jays are also 2-2 all-time as the third seed, going 1-1 in both 1997 and 2007. Both of those teams were eliminated in four sets by UNI.
Creighton is 0-2 all-time in MVC Tournament matches played in Cedar Falls, losing to Missouri State (3-1) in 1999 and to the host Panthers (3-0) in 2005.
Third Seed History
The three seed is the only one in the modern history (since the current format was adopted in 1995) to claim at least one win in every MVC Tournament. That's because the third seed remains a perfect 15-0 in quarterfinal round action.
Upon advancing to the semifinals, the third seed is 5-10, but has reached the finals in three of the past four seasons and five of the past eight campaigns.
The third seed, however, has never won the tournament title.
Third Seeded at MVC Tournament, Since 1995
Year Third Seed W-L NCAA's?
1995 Illinois State 1-1 No
1996 Northern Iowa 1-1 No
1997 Creighton 1-1 No
1998 Southern Illinois 1-1 No
1999 Bradley 1-1 No
2000 Missouri State 1-1 No
2001 Bradley 1-1 No
2002 Southern Illinois 2-1 No
2003 Wichita State 1-1 No
2004 Missouri State 2-1 No
2005 Illinois State 1-1 No
2006 Missouri State 2-1 Yes (1-1)
2007 Creighton 1-1 No
2008 Northern Iowa 2-1 Yes (0-1)
2009 Wichita State 2-1 Yes (1-1)
2010 Creighton ? ?
Alternative Route
Creighton will open with Drake in the State Farm MVC Tournament for the second straight season, but for the first time since 2005, a semifinal date with Northern Iowa won't be on the horizon if the Jays advance.
This time, it'd be second-seeded Wichita State that looms in the semifinals.
Creighton has fallen to tourney host and defending champion Northern Iowa in each of the last five years of Valley Tourney action, including four straight semifinal eliminations.
Dead End?
You can be sure revenge will on the mind of the Bluejay seniors should it match up against Northern Iowa on Saturday. The Panthers have ended the Creighton season in the semifinals each of the past four years, and in the quarterfinals in 2005.
In league history two schools have met in five straight MVC Tournaments on just three 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.
Creighton and UNI have met each of the previous five MVC Tournaments, with the Panthers winning each contest.
With A Win...
-Creighton would improve to 19-10 on the season.
-Creighton would reach the semifinal round of the MVC Tournament for the fifth straight season.
-Creighton would improve to 2-0 all-time against Drake in the MVC Tournament, also winning last season in Omaha in the quarterfinals.
-Creighton would improve to 5-11 all-time in the MVC Tournament, including a 5-6 mark in the quarterfinal round.
-Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth would improve to 4-7 in the MVC Tournament and 4-3 in quarterfinal round play.
-Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Boothwould improve to 15-3 in her career against Drake.
-Creighton would improve to 16-5 since Laurel Sanford returned from an early-season ankle injury.
The Case For Creighton
Should Creighton not win the automatic bid from the Missouri Valley Conference, it would still have some lofty credentials that would merit consideration into the NCAA Tournament. Consider the following:
-Creighton's official RPI entering this week stands at 39. The teams that were 39th in the year-end RPI have reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four years.
-Creighton finished alone in third place in the Missouri Valley Conference, the nation's No. 6 ranked league. In the last eight years, the No. 6-ranked conference has averaged 3.5 bids per NCAA Tournament.
-Creighton has gone 15-5 in its last 20 matches, and is 6-3 in its last nine contests.
-Creighton went just 1-4 in five matches from Aug. 28-Sept. 4 that Laurel Sanford did not start due to an ankle injury. Sanford leads the team in blocks per set and hitting percentage while ranking second in kills per set.
-Creighton put together an aggressive non-conference schedule that ranks 15th-strongest nationally according to RichKern.com.
-Creighton is 4-5 against top-60 teams, including 3-0 road sweeps at No. 54 Marquette and No. 57 Saint Louis.
-Geographically, Creighton is within a six-hour drive of numerous potential hosts, including Nebraska, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Wichita State, Minnesota and Missouri.
-Creighton ranks third nationally in digs per set and is one of five squads nationally to be in the top-50 in digs per set and blocks per set.
-The third seed of the MVC Tournament has reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four years. Two of those three qualifiers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
-Creighton claimed 13 league wins this season. In the last four years, nine of the 13 MVC schools with 13 or more league wins made the NCAA Tournament. Those nine qualifiers would go 6-3 in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament.
-Since 2004, 233 of the 240 teams that ranked in the top-40 of the RPI advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Valley On The Rise
A strong non-conference season has lifted the Missouri Valley Conference into sixth place of the annual league rankings provided by RichKern.com. The league has never finished a season higher than ninth.
In the past eight years, the No. 6 ranked conference has garnered 28 NCAA Tournament bids, an average of 3.5 per season, receiving three or more in seven of those campaigns.
Here's a list, year-by-year, of the No. 6 rated conference and how many bids they earned, since 2002:
Year League NCAA Bids
2002 Big West 5
2003 Big West 6
2004 Western Athletic 3
2005 BIG EAST 2
2006 Mountain West 3
2007 Mountain West 3
2008 Atlantic Coast 3
2009 Mountain West 3
In the eight seasons listed above, 13 teams have finished in third place (or tied for a spot equivalent to third). Nine of those teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
More Conference Numbers
According to the RKPI, the top eight leagues, in order, are Big Ten, Pacific-10, Big 12, Atlantic Coast, Southeastern, Missouri Valley, Big West and Mountain West.
The MVC is 15-12 against the other top-eight leagues, going 3-4 against the Big Ten, 5-4 against the Big 12, 1-0 against the Pacific-10, 2-0 against the Southeastern, 2-3 against the Atlantic Coast and 2-1 against the Mountain West. The MVC has not met the Big West.
The only leagues with more than the MVC's four top-40 teams are the Big Ten and the Pacific 10 Conferences.
Likewise, the only leagues with more than the MVC's six top-90 teams are the Big Ten and Pacific 10 Conferences.
RPI Facts
Creighton owned an official NCAA ranking of 40th on Monday. Creighton had been 55th in the initial RPI on Oct. 4, 32nd on Oct. 11, 40th on Oct. 18th, 44th on Oct. 25th, 41st on Nov. 1st and 46th on Nov. 8th and 44th on Nov. 15th.
Creighton is 0-3 against top-6 teams in this week's RPI but 4-2 vs. teams ranked between 7th-64th.
By comparison, Creighton's final year-end RPI was 56th in 2007 and 46th in 2008 in a pair of years in which the Jays ended up on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Finalists Advance To NCAA's
The Missouri Valley Conference has earned 11 NCAA Tournament bids in the past four seasons. Notably, both teams to reach the MVC Tournament final have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in that time.
The top two seeds have both advanced to the finals just twice since 2002 (2005 and 2003), but the last time the top seed beat the second seed in the final was 2001.
Records By Seed
The chart below showcases the record by seed in each MVC Tournament since the current six-team format was adopted in 1995.
Year-by-Year Tourney Record, By Seed
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6
1995 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 1-1 0-1
1996 2-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
1997 2-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
1998 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 1-1 0-1
1999 2-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
2000 2-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
2001 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 1-1 0-1
2002 2-0 0-1 2-1 0-1 1-1 0-1
2003 1-1 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
2004 2-0 0-1 2-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
2005 1-1 2-0 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
2006 2-0 0-1 2-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
2007 0-1 2-0 1-1 0-1 2-1 0-1
2008 0-1 0-1 2-1 3-0 0-1 0-1
2009 2-0 0-1 2-1 1-1 0-1 0-1
Totals 24-4 13-12 20-15 12-14 6-15 0-15
Championship Game W-L Records
11-2 3-7 0-5 1-0 0-1 0-0
Comeback Note
Did you know that the only two teams to rally from an 0-2 deficit to win an MVC Tournament match were Illinois State over Bradley in the 1999 semifinals and Illinois State over Southern Illinois in the 1983 finals.
Since the start of the 1995 format still in use today, set one winners have won 57 of 70 matches.
Five Sets Favor Recent Upsets?
Each of the last five MVC Tournament matches to go five sets have been won by the lower (worse)-seeded team.
The last time a higher-seeded team won a five-set match at the MVC Tournament was the 2004 championship match.
Seeking A First
If Creighton Volleyball can reach the NCAA Tournament, it would create an unprecedented first in Missouri Valley Conference history. No school has ever had its volleyball, women's soccer and men's soccer teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament in the same fall.
Difference Maker
Creighton is 16-6 in the matches Laurel Sanford has started after going 1-4 in five matches she didn't start following an early-season ankle injury. Creighton also won its Nov. 20 match vs. Southern Illinois when Sanford voluntarily stepped aside for the first two points to enable senior Lauren Bloemke to start.
Finally healthy again, Sanford has had 10 or more kills in nine of her last 14 matches after doing that just four times in the first 55 matches of her career.
With Sanford in the line-up, Creighton's offense has benefited greatly, averaging 13.58 kills per set on .228 hitting. Additionally, Creighton has averaged 1.44 aces per set while yielding just 0.79 aces per set.
In the six matches not started by Sanford, Creighton averages 12.96 kills per set on .176 hitting. CU also averages 0.87 aces per set while allowing 1.30 by the opposition.
Creighton is 55-28 in the sets started by Sanford this season, but 9-12 in the sets she hasn't.
Sanford's Career Night Continues Trend
Laurel Sanford had a career-high with 20 kills on .455 hitting in Creighton's 3-1 victory over Southern Illinois last Saturday. Sanford also led the Jays with 11 kills on .391 hitting vs. Evansville the previous night. For her efforts, Sanford was named MVC Player of the Week on Monday.
After only 51 kills in her first eight matches while battling an ankle injury, Sanford owns 163 kills in Creighton's last 16 matches.
In that time, she is averaging 2.76 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .316.
Defensive Showdown
Thursday's match-up features the top two defenders (statistically) in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In MVC play, Drake senior Alana Wittenburg leads the MVC with 5.92 digs per set. Ranking second is Creighton freshman Julianne Mandolfo with 5.50 digs per set.
Wittenburg owns 12 matches of 24 digs or more this season, while Mandolfo has done so seven times. Mandolfo has become the first freshman in school history with two matches of 30 or more digs.
As a team, Creighton ranks third in the country with 18.87 digs per set, while Drake isn't far behind at 18.02 digs per set to rank 11th nationally.
Academic Quartet
Creighton had a district-high four players earn ESPN CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
Megan Bober, Allie Oelke and Alicia Runge were named second-team choices, while Brooke Boggs was a third-team pick.
Oelke and Runge were also named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team this fall. It's the third straight year for Oelke, while Runge moves up from the honorable-mention squad last fall.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton closed the regular-season with eight straight home wins thanks to triumphs last weekend vs. Evansville and Southern Illinois.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is a combined 16-0 at home against those teams, and the Jays have won 10 straight at home over Evansville and eight in a row at home over Southern Illinois.
Wins over Evansville and Southern Illinois over the weekend gave Creighton an eight-match home win streak to end the season, longest in program history. Earlier this year the Jays tied a school record by winning seven straight true road matches.
Below is a list of Creighton's longest home win streaks, as well as its longest home win streaks against the same opponent.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
8 Sept. 25, 2010-Present ? ? ?
7 Oct. 17, 2008-Aug. 28, 2009 #10 Illinois, 3-0
6 Oct. 22, 2005-Sept. 2, 2006 Iowa, 3-2
4 Oct. 26-Nov. 16, 2001 Missouri State, 3-2
4 Sept. 28-Oct. 8, 2004 Missouri State, 0-3
CU's Longest Home Win Streaks, Same Opponent
Wins Opponent Dates
10 Evansville 2001-Present
9 Drake 2003-Present
8 Southern Illinois 2003-Present
7 Indiana State 2004-Present
5 Indiana State 1995-99
5 Bradley 2006-Present
5 Illinois State 2006-Present
Senior Day Was Saturday
Creighton seniors Nayka Benitez, Lauren Bloemke, Alicia Runge and Allie Oelke were honored alongside senior manager Kevin Gebhardt on Saturday prior to the win vs. Southern Illinois.
Over the last four years, Creighton has gone 71-46, including a pair of second-place finishes in the MVC. The quartet have combined for 2,234 kills, 2,490 digs, 618 blocks and 211 aces in a combined 12 seasons of action.
Bloemke Has Her Senior Moment
After tearing an anterior cruciate ligament for the second time in 18 months this past July, it appeared that Lauren Bloemke's five-year career would end.
But thanks to the generosity of some teammates, she got one more chance to play on Senior Night vs. Southern Illinois on Nov. 20th.
Several players contacted coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth about giving up their starting spot so that Bloemke could play again. Bloemke was announced as a starter, and began the match behind the service line for her first action since September of 2009.
Bloemke served it in, and after an SIU attack error, got a second chance to serve. Upon a sideout, Bloemke was replaced by Laurel Sanford to a standing ovation at D.J. Sokol Arena.
All-Around Allie
Allie Oelke recently moved into second-place on Creighton's all-time digs list, and now has 1,319 career digs. She also ranks in Creighton's career top-11 in kills (1,079/6th), aces (85/6th) and blocks (244/11th), making her one of two players (Shelly Kapler) in CU history in the top-11 in all four categories.
Oelke owns 41 career double-doubles, fourth most in Creighton history. She has had a double-double in four of her five career MVC Tournament matches to date.
Dig This!
Nayka Benitez had a season-high 29 digs in Creighton's sweep over Drake on Nov. 13, part of a strong defensive effort that held the Bulldogs to season-lows in kills (27) and hitting percentage (.037). The 29 digs were the most in Creighton history for a three-set match, two more than the previous mark set by Janeen Piller and Bianca Rivera.
For her efforts, Benitez was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week.
Julianne Mandolfo, Ace Detective
Freshman Julianne Mandolfo served an ace in 11 straight matches before it was snapped on Friday vs. Evansville. That was tied for the second-longest streak in school history, as seen below, and was the longest such streak by a freshman in Creighton history.
Consecutive Matches With An Ace
15 Amanda Cvejdlik, Sept. 29-Nov. 18, 2006
11 Kim Whitman, Sept. 5-Oct. 4, 1998
11 Molly Moran, Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 2000
11 Julianne Mandolfo, Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 2010
9 Melissa Weisensee, Sept. 1-20, 1995
Win The First One
The team to win the first set has won each of Creighton's last 13 matches, and 22 of Creighton's last 23 contests against MVC competition.
Thursday's opponent, Drake, 18-1 this year when it wins the first set and just 5-9 when it doesn't.
Under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Creighton is 118-16 when winning the first set, but 20-83 in matches it loses the opening frame.
Aces Flying At Home
Nayka Benitez had 24 aces (0.69 saps.) against just nine serving errors in Creighton's seven MVC home matches this season. That includes seven aces in a match vs. Bradley and six more against Indiana State.
By comparison, Creighton had 20 total aces as a team in nine home MVC matches last year.
This season Creighton had 54 aces and 55 service errors in nine MVC home matches, and 48 aces and 69 errors in nine Valley road contests.
More Ace Notes
Recent serving success by Allie Oelke and Nayka Benitez have moved the duo into the top-10 in Creighton's history for career aces, and kept Benitez in second on the career aces per set list.
Service Aces Per Set (Min. 20 SA), Season
Name Sets No. Avg. Year
1. Molly Moran 105 59 0.562 2000
2. Molly Moran 94 47 0.500 2001
3. Melissa Weisensee 107 45 0.421 1995
4. Melissa Weisensee 86 35 0.407 1994
5. Amanda Cvejdlik 116 45 0.388 2006
6. Nayka Benitez 115 43 0.3739 2009
7. JoDe Cieloha 99 37 0.3737 1995
8. Nayka Benitez 98 36 0.367 2010
9. Allie Oelke 107 39 0.365 2007
10. Mallory Lahm 105 38 0.362 2004
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
4. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
5. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
6. Allie Oelke 425 85 2007-Pres.
7. Nayka Benitez 213 79 2009-Pres.
8. Leah Ratzlaff 409 77 2002-05
9. Kelli Koochi 327 76 1998-01
10. Michelle Prorock 299 72 1994-96
Kailey Reyes 368 72 1998-01
Service Aces Per Set (Min. 40 SA), Career
Name Sets No. Avg. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 0.4252 1998-01
2. Nayka Benitez 213 79 0.3709 2009-Pr.
3. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 0.3041 1994-97
4. Carolyn Decker 300 89 0.2967 2004-08
5. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 0.2839 1994-97
6. Shelly Kapler 388 104 0.2680 1996-99
7. Michelle Prorock 299 72 0.2408 1994-96
8. Kelli Koochi 327 76 0.2324 1998-01
9. Mallory Lahm 206 47 0.2282 2004-05
10. Kim Whitman 201 41 0.2040 1994-98
Surpassing Last Year
Last year's Creighton team finished with 14 wins in 31 matches. This year's Bluejay squad has 18 wins in 28 matches.
This is the fourth time in the last five years that Creighton has won 18 or more matches.
Long Rallies The Norm
This year's Creighton team has averaged 39.60 attack attempts per set. That figure would rank eighth-most in NCAA history since the current 25-point rally scoring format was started in 2008.
Last year's Evansville team ranks sixth on that list with 39.71 attempts per set. Current Creighton assistant coach Tom Mendoza was on the UE staff last season.
Attack Attempts/Set, Current 25-Pt. Scoring Format
Rk. Team, Year Avg.
1. IUPUI, 2008 41.16
2. Southeast Missouri State, 2009 40.56
3. Illinois State, 2008 40.16
4. NJIT, 2009 40.09
5. Green Bay, 2008 39.78
6. Evansville, 2009 39.71
7. Green Bay, 2009 39.60
8. Creighton, 2010 39.596
9. IUPUI, 2009 39.31
10. Iowa State, 2009 39.24
Home Away From Home?
Northern Iowa is an impressive 42-7 all-time since McLeod Center opened for the final match of 2006, including a 34-3 mark in league play.
Only five teams overall have ever won at McLeod Center, including two teams twice. That list includes Iowa State (twice), Wichita State (twice), Creighton, Saint Louis and Kentucky.
Chasing History
Julianne Mandolfo owns 463 digs (4.45 dps.) this season as she continues to chase a couple of school records. Her total smashes Creighton's previous single-season record for digs by a freshman of 341 by Allie Oelke in 2007.
Creighton's record for digs per set by a freshman is 3.40 by Kailey Reyes (1998).
Mandolfo's 33 digs vs. Missouri State on Oct. 8 were the most in CU history by a freshman, surpassing the 30 by Melissa Walsh on Oct. 10, 1998 vs. Drake.
Walsh, Oelke and Reyes would all go on to earn spots on the MVC's All-Freshman Team, with Oelke being named Freshman of the Year.
Digs Per Set, Creighton Freshmen
DPS Name, Year Digs SP
4.45 Julianne Mandolfo, 2010 463 104
3.40 Kailey Reyes, 1998 299 88
3.19 Allie Oelke, 2007 341 107
3.12 Sarah Schulze, 2006 253 81
2.76 Melissa Walsh, 1998 251 91
Mandolfo Chased Creighton's MVC Dig Mark
Julianne Mandolfo's 5.50 digs per set in MVC play were fourth-most in school history for league play, just behind of the 5.82 digs per set in conference action by Janeen Piller in 2004.
Creighton's Most Digs Per Set, MVC Play
DPS Name, Year Digs SP
5.82 Janeen Piller, 2004 390 67
5.81 Bianca Rivera, 2007 366 63
5.64 Bianca Rivera, 2008 372 66
5.50 Julianne Mandolfo, 2010 363 66
4.73 Katie Mehal, 2006 317 67
4.70 Nayka Benitez, 2009 329 70
4.05 Mallory Lahm, 2005 251 53
4.03 Janeen Piller, 2003 286 71
3.95 Kailey Reyes, 2001 249 63
3.85 Allie Oelke, 2010 254 66
3.79 Allie Oelke, 2009 265 70
3.65 Nayka Benitez, 2010 219 60
3.647 Melissa Weisensee, 1997 259 71
3.54 Melissa Walsh, 2001 248 70
Three Deep Diggers
Creighton owns three of the MVC's top 11 in digs per set this season, as Julianne Mandolfo, Nayka Benitez and Allie Oelke rank sixth, eighth and 11th, respectively.
No league school has had three players finish in the top-10 of digs per set since 2001, when Illinois State's Abby Lewis, Erin Jones and Becky Weber turned the trick.
All three of those players have 400 digs or more this year, a first in program history. Entering this season, only five players had ever reached that milestone and the only time the Jays had owned multiple players with 400 digs in the same fall came in 2006, when Katie Mehal and Abby Baumann reached that milestone.
You Dig?
Helped by three players averaging 3.87 digs per set or more, Creighton ranks third nationally in digs per set, averaging 18.87 digs per set.
Yale leads the way with 19.34 digs per set and is followed by Baylor (18.95) and Creighton (18.87). Rounding out the top-five are Valparaiso (18.71) and North Carolina (18.65).
New Style, Better Results
After finishing third in the nation with 3.08 blocks per set last season, Creighton has found another way to win this season.
This year's Creighton team ranks third nationally with 18.87 digs per set.
A look back through past NCAA stat category leaders reveals that the last team to rank in the top-five in blocks per set one year, and digs per set the other, in consecutive seasons was Sacramento State in 2005 and 2006.
Creighton is one of five schools nationally to rank among the top-50 in both digs per set and blocks per set. That list includes Creighton, Dayton, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, SMU and Wichita State.
Fab Four
At the midway point of the conference season, the top of the MVC standings took on a familiar look. The first four teams in the league rankings (Northern Iowa, Creighton, Missouri State and Wichita State) all also claimed the top four spots in each of the past five seasons.
Multiple Weapons
One reason for Creighton's success is that its players consistently hit efficiently and avoid negative hitting percentages. The five players that lead Creighton in kills have combined for just seven individual matches in which they hit for negative numbers. Creighton has lost each time.
Laurel Sanford and Alicia Runge have not hit negative all season. Allie Oelke has hit negative three times (losses vs. Toledo and at Drake and Missouri State), Megan Bober twice (losses to Kansas and Nebraska) and Karisa Almgren twice (Nebraska and at Missouri State).
Friday Night Lights
Creighton has been at its best on Friday nights this season, going 9-2 in such contests. That includes victories over Saint Louis, Marquette, Illinois State and Wichita State. Creighton's only Friday night losses this year were a home setback vs. No. 16 Northern Iowa on Sept. 24 and road five-set loss at Wichita State on Nov. 5.
Creighton is also 17-5 in its past 21 Friday road matches in MVC play.
A Good Barometer
Illinois State and Creighton have long been competitive in head-to-head match-ups. Since Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival in 2003, Creighton is 10-8 against Illinois State. They are the only Valley program that Booth is within seven matches of the .500 mark against.
Since her arrival Booth's Creighton teams have finished better than Illinois State in the standings five times, but behind them three times. Every other team in the MVC has beaten Creighton in the standings either 0-2 times, or 7-8 times.
Opponent Booth W-L Better-Worse-Same
Bradley 15-1 8-0-0
Drake 14-3 7-0-1
Evansville 15-1 8-0-0
Illinois State 10-8 5-3-0
Indiana State 13-3 7-0-1
Missouri State 4-12 2-5-1
Northern Iowa 3-18 1-6-1
Southern Illinois 17-0 8-0-0
Wichita State 5-12 0-8-0
One of a Kind
Sophomore setter Megan Bober continues to lead Creighton with 94 blocks. Bober enters this week as the nation's only player averaging at least 10.00 assists per set (10.22 aps.), 1.40 kills per set (1.49 kps.) and at least 0.90 blocks per set (0.90 bps.).
Last season Bober had 107 blocks, easily the most ever in one year by a Creighton setter. In doing so, she became the first player in Creighton history to have both 100 blocks and 100 assists in the same season.
In fact, Bober's 0.93 blocks per set last season led the country among setters, and she was the nation's only player to average at least 0.9 blocks and 7.5 assists per set.
Earlier this year Bober became the fourth-quickest in CU history to the 2,000 mark.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 2,000 Assists Name MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 43 09/22/06 Drake
Brittany Coleman 45 10/02/04 Southern Illinois
Kailey Reyes 49 09/01/00 at Iowa State
Megan Bober 55 11/05/10 at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee 66 09/15/96 at UMKC
On A Roll
Creighton has won 15 of its last 20 matches and its recently snapped five-match winning streak was its longest since winning the final eight matches of the 2008 regular-season.
In the 73 sets during this 15-5 stretch, Creighton has served 113 aces against just 136 errors, while allowing only 62 aces to the opposition.
This was the ninth winning streak of five wins or more since the program's 1994 reinstatement. Eight of those nine streaks have come under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Consecutive Matches Won
Wins Dates Snapped By
8 Oct. 25-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. Northern Iowa, 3-2
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
6 Sept. 21-Oct. 6, 2007 Wichita State, 3-0
5 Sept. 24-Oct. 2, 1999 at Missouri State, 3-0
5 Nov. 4-19, 2005 at Northern Iowa, 3-0
5 Aug. 25-Sept. 2, 2006 Iowa, 3-2
5 Sept. 9-16, 2006 at South Dakota State, 3-1
5 Oct. 26-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita State, 3-1
5 Sept. 25-Oct. 9, 2010 at Drake, 3-1
Defensive Display
Creighton owns just 10 home matches in the last six years in which it has 90 digs or more, but six of those have come against Illinois State in the Redbirds annual trip to Omaha.
Since 2005, Creighton has averaged 24.40 digs in those 25 sets played in Omaha against Illinois State. At all sites, Creighton has 1,160 digs in 54 sets versus the Redbirds since 2005 (21.48 dps.).
Illinois State at Creighton, Last Six Years
Date Sets CU Digs ISU Digs
10/30/10 4 90 93
10/23/09 4 92 88
11/08/08 4 106 102
09/28/07 4 114 108
10/28/06 4 111 92
10/21/05 5 97 95
Most Creighton Digs, Home Matches, Since 2005
Digs Opponent Date CU Result
114 Illinois State 09/28/07 W 3-1
111 Illinois State 10/28/06 W 3-1
106 Illinois State 11/08/08 W 3-1
103 Northern Iowa 09/17/05 L 1-3
101 Iowa 09/02/06 L 2-3
97 Illinois State 10/21/05 L 2-3
94 Missouri State 10/08/10 W 3-2
92 Illinois State 10/23/09 W 3-1
91 #25 Wichita State 10/02/09 W 3-1
90 Illinois State 10/30/10 W 3-1
Been There, Done That
Creighton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to come back and beat Wichita State in five sets on Oct. 9.
Four of Creighton's last five wins against the Shockers have been five-set victories.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 23-14 in five-set matches at Creighton, and the Oct. 8-9 weekend marked the first time since 1997 that the Jays won consecutive matches in five sets.
Redbird Arena Success = MVC Success
Creighton won at Illinois State on Oct. 8 for the fourth time in the last five years, but just the fifth time in regular-season action overall in school history.
In those five seasons, Creighton owns a combined Valley record of 65-27 (.707), compared to a 90-138 (.395) league mark in years it has lost at Redbird Arena.
Oelke Joins 1,000/1,000 Club
Allie Oelke (1,079 kills, 1,319 digs) has become just the second player in school history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career, joining Melissa Walsh (1,596 kills and 1,240 digs), in that exclusive club. Walsh entered the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.
Oelke reached her milestone late in the first set vs. Wichita State on Oct. 9.
Most Career Kills, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
2. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
3. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
4. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
5. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
6. Allie Oelke 425 1,079 2007-Pr.
7. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
8. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
Oelke Joins Century Club
Allie Oelke became the 18th player in Bluejay history to play in 100 career matches when she started at Southern Illinois on Sept. 17th.
The senior, who has played in all 117 matches in her career to date, became just the fifth player in school history to reach 100 without missing a match, joining Korie Lebeda (119), Leah Ratzlaff (115), Melissa Weisensee (111) and Melissa Walsh (108).
Digging From The Outside
Senior OH Allie Oelke has 1,319 career digs. She has moved past former teammate Sarah Schulze (1,056 digs from 2006-09) and ranks second-most in school history.
Oelke's dig total is also the highest in school history by a Bluejay outside hitter, a mark formerly held by Schulze.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
2. Allie Oelke 425 1,319 2007-Pr.
3. Kailey Reyes 368 1,258 1998-01
4. Melissa Walsh 394 1,240 1998-01
5. Melissa Weisensee 411 1,223 1994-97
6. Korie Lebeda 428 1,130 2005-08
7. Bianca Rivera 207 1,118 2007-08
8. Sarah Schulze 398 1,056 2006-09
9. Abby Baumann 375 935 2004-07
10. Shelly Kapler 388 922 1996-99
Mandolfo Honored, Again
On Oct. 11, Julianne Mandolfo was named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week for the second time in three weeks. Mandolfo previously won the award on Sept. 27.
A native of Omaha, Neb., Mandolfo averaged 5.80 digs, 1.20 assists, 0.20 aces and had her first career kill as Creighton defeated both Wichita State and Missouri State in five sets last week. It was just the second time in program history that Creighton beat the Bears and Shockers on consecutive nights.
Mandolfo began her weekend with a career-best 33 digs vs. Missouri State, most in Creighton history by a freshman and most by any Valley freshman since 2008. She added a career-high eight assists, and had her first career kill to give Creighton a 11-7 lead late in the fifth set.
On Saturday against Wichita State, Mandolfo had 25 digs, four assists and an ace in a five-set win over Wichita State.
On the weekend, she was perfect in 63 serve reception attempts, a major factor the Jays allowed just three aces in 10 sets against MSU and WSU.
Sanford Joins Double-Double Club
Junior MB Laurel Sanford recorded her first career double-double when she had 10 kills and 11 blocks in a three-set win at Indiana State on Oct. 2.
In doing so, she became Creighton's first player since 1995 (JoDe Cieloha) with a kill-block double-double in a three-set match.
It was the third time in Sanford's career she's had 10 or more blocks, but first time she's done it while also producing 10 or more kills on offense.
Mandolfo Digs This
Freshman Julianne Mandolfo had 23 digs in her first appearance as Creighton's libero in a Sept. 17 sweep at Southern Illinois.
Her 23 digs were tied for fourth-most in school history for a three-set match.
Mandolfo then had 27 digs in back-to-back matches vs. UNI and Bradley on Sept. 24-25, an average of 6.75 per set. For those efforts, Mandolfo was named MVC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 27th.
Mandolfo added to her numbers on Oct. 1 with a 29 digs in four sets at Illinois State.
For the season, Mandolfo leads the team with 463 digs and 4.45 digs per set. Her 435 digs are second among all MVC freshmen. Mandolfo is also second among all MVC players with 5.68 digs per set in league play.
She is also the only freshman in Creighton history with three or more matches of 20 digs, having done so 10 times now.
Mandolfo has played in 28 matches and owns 463 digs. She became the second-quickest player in CU history to 400 career digs.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 400 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 20 10/13/07 Missouri State
Julianne Mandolfo 24 11/05/10 at Wichita State
Nayka Benitez 25 11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis
Kailey Reyes 34 09/18/99 at Bradley
Allie Oelke 38 09/06/08 vs. Mississippi
Creighton's Quickest Players To 500 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 25 11/02/07 Southern Illinois
Nayka Benitez 30 11/21/09 at Bradley
Kailey Reyes 41 10/22/99 at Indiana State
Melissa Walsh 48 11/05/99 Wichita State
Janeen Piller 49 09/20/03 Evansville
Let's Hit It
Creighton hit .654 in the third set of its win over Bradley on Sept. 25, with 18 kills and one error in 26 attempts.
The hitting percentage was the third-best mark in school history, and best by any Jays squad since hitting a school-record .684 (13-0-19) in the second set of a 15-0 win at Eastern Illinois on October 15, 2000.
First Third Excellent Again
Creighton started 5-1 or better in MVC play for the fourth time in Kirsten Bernthal Booth's eight seasons at the helm. Her 2003, 2006 and 2007 squads also did so.
Over her tenure, Creighton has been a collective 32-16 in the first six games of MVC play, 29-19 in the middle six, and 32-16 in the final six.
Creighton by Thirds in MVC Play, Under Booth
Year First 6 W-L Middle 6 W-L Last 6 W-L
2010 5-1 4-2 4-2
2009 3-3 3-3 4-2
2008 4-2 5-1 6-0
2007 6-0 3-3 5-1
2006 5-1 4-2 3-3
2005 1-5 4-2 5-1
2004 3-3 4-2 3-3
2003 5-1 2-4 2-4
Total 32-16 (.667) 29-19 (.604) 32-16 (.667)
Midway Report
Creighton's match vs. Drake on Oct. 16 finished off the first half of its MVC schedule with a 7-2 league mark. This is the fourth time in five seasons that Creighton has been 7-2 at the midpoint.
Creighton has had a winning record at the midway point of conference play on 10 occasions, and qualified for the MVC Tournament each time.
League Record by Year
Year 1st Half 2nd Half MVC Finish
2010 7-2 6-3 3rd
2009 4-5 6-3 T-4th
2008 7-2 8-1 2nd
2007 7-2 7-2 T-2nd
2006 7-2 5-4 4th
2005 4-5 6-3 5th
2004 5-4 5-4 5th
2003 5-4 4-5 T-5th
2002 1-8 1-8 T-9th
2001 7-2 5-4 4th
2000 5-4 5-4 T-4th
1999 5-4 4-5 5th
1998 2-7 3-6 8th
1997 6-3 4-5 T-3rd
1996 2-7 3-6 T-6th
1995 3-7 3-7 T-7th
1994 2-8 1-9 T-9th
Total 79-76 76-79 --
Booth era 46-26 47-25
Haunted Series
Oct. 8-9 marked just the second time ever that Creighton beat Missouri State and Wichita State on consecutive nights.
The first occasion came all the way back in 1997, when CU beat Missouri State on Halloween night, then topped Wichita State the following day.
Road Win Streak Record Tied
Creighton's loss at Drake on Oct. 16 snapped its seven-match win streak in true road matches. That figure had tied the previous school record.
Creighton's Longest Road Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
7 Sept. 21-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita St., 3-0
7 Nov. 21, 2009 - Oct. 2, 2010 at Drake, 3-1
6 Oct. 14-Nov. 17, 2000 at Missouri St., 3-0
5 Nov. 21, 2003-Sept. 14, 2004 at Wichita St., 3-1
Serving It Up
Creighton's serving has improved greatly since a disastrous opening night (1 ace, 21 errors) behind the service line.
In Creighton's current 15-5 stretch, the Jays have served up 113 aces against just 137 errors. Nayka Benitez has 32 aces compared to 30 errors in that time, while fellow senior Allie Oelke (25 aces, 19 errors) has also picked up the pace of late.
Attack of the Jays
Creighton hit a season-best .402 in its Oct. 2 win at Indiana State, finishing with 39 kills and four errors in 87 swings. Creighton's four errors tied its fewest in school history, done previously on Oct. 27, 1995, when Creighton hit a school-record .536 in a win over Tulsa.
Creighton's 25-7 win in the third set of its win at Indiana State was the fewest points allowed in any set since Bradley was held to six in the fifth set on Oct. 4, 2003, and fewest allowed ever in any set played to 25 by Creighton.
Seventh Heaven
After just seven aces in Creighton's first 13 matches of the season, senior Nayka Benitez served up a career-high seven aces in a 3-1 victory over Bradley on Sept. 25.
The figure was tied for second-most in Creighton history and was also a D.J. Sokol Arena record. Four of her aces came consecutively in the fourth set. Last year, she served five straight aces in a match against Missouri State.
As a team, Creighton served up 12 aces, doubling its previous season-high and was the program's most since Sept. 30, 2006.
Benitez has 27 aces (0.56 saps.) and just 20 serving miscues during Creighton's last 13 matches.
Service Aces, Single-Match
Aces Name, Opponent (Sets) Date
8 Carolyn Decker at New Mexico (3s) 9-4-04
7 Molly Moran vs. Drake (3s) 9-22-00
7 Kelli Koochi at Indiana State (4s) 10-19-01
7 Nayka Benitez vs. Bradley (4s) 9-25-10
Road Success
When Creighton swept Southern Illinois and Evansville in consecutive road matches on Sept. 17-18, it marked just the second time in program history it had swept each set of a two-match Valley trip.
Overall, Creighton is 7-4 in true road matches this year, winning six of those matches by 3-0 scores.
Bluejay Duo Earn MVC Honors
On Oct. 4, Megan Bober and Laurel Sanford were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference as its Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.
Bober averaged 9.43 assists, 2.00 kills, 1.71 digs, 1.71 blocks and 0.29 aces per set as Creighton won road matches at Illinois State and Indiana State. She hit .375 in the process, while also setting the Jays to .274 hitting for the weekend.
On Friday, Bober helped Creighton hand Illinois State its first home loss of the year, as she had 44 assists, nine digs, five blocks and five kills. She also had a season-best two aces, as Creighton avenged a five-set loss in Normal last season.
On Saturday, Bober had a career-high with nine kills on season-best .562 hitting in 16 errorless swings. She added 22 assists, seven blocks and three digs as Creighton held the Sycamores to .018 hitting. She also set Creighton to .402 hitting, sixth-best in school history, as the Jays tied a program-record with just four hitting errors. The win was Creighton's seventh straight on the road, tying another school-record.
This is the first time that Bober has been honored as MVC Player of the Week.
Sanford averaged 2.86 kills, 2.14 blocks and 0.71 digs while hitting .372 on the weekend.
She had 10 kills, five digs, four blocks and hit .269 in a Creighton win at Illinois State on Friday. Her five digs were a career-high.
Sanford then had her first career double-double at Indiana State on Friday, finishing with 10 kills on 17 swings, hitting .529, while recording 11 blocks. She had four kills and five blocks in the first set, four more blocks in the second set, and four kills and two blocks in the final set.
The 11 blocks for Sanford is the most in any three-set match in the MVC this season. Impressively, nine of her blocks came against Valley kill leader Morgan Dall, who had seven kills against 12 hitting errors and hit -.143 for the night in 35 swings.
This is the third time in Sanford's career that she's won this award, and second time in three weeks (also Sept. 24, 2010).
MVC Honors Bluejay Duo
Two members of the Creighton Volleyball team earned recognition from the Missouri Valley Conference on Sept. 20 after helping the Bluejays to road sweeps of Southern Illinois and Evansville. Allie Oelke was named MVC Player of the Week and MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week, while Laurel Sanford
A senior outside hitter from Chanhassen, Minn., Oelke averaged 4.00 kills, 4.33 digs and 1.00 blocks per set. She hit a collective .333 for the weekend, hitting .312 on Friday and .360 on Saturday.
Oelke had 12 kills and 13 digs in both matches, giving her 35 career double-doubles. She had three aces and four blocks in the win at SIU, then added two blocks and four assists in the victory at Evansville.
She also owns a 3.794 GPA in Elementary Education.
Though this is the first time in her career that Oelke has been named MVC Player of the Week, she's no stranger to MVC recognition. Oelke was a four-time honoree as MVC Freshman of the Week and earned MVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2007. She was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 9, 2009, and was a 2009 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team selection.
A junior middle blocker from Eagan, Minn., Sanford averaged 2.67 kills, 1.83 blocks and 0.50 digs per set.
Sanford had eight kills, four blocks, three digs and an ace in the Jays sweep of Southern Illinois. She then added eight kills and seven blocks in Creighton's sweep over UE on Saturday night. Three of her blocks vs. the Purple Aces came in the final set, including one to end the contest.
Putting It Down
Alicia Runge had one of the most efficient matches of her career on Sept. 25 vs. Bradley, pounding 17 kills on 26 swings. She had just one error, giving her a robust .615 hitting percentage for the evening.
Runge's .615 hitting is the second-best in Creighton history for a player with 25 or more attacks in a match, and is also a D.J. Sokol Arena record.
Attack Percentage, Match (min. 12 kills)
Pct. Name (K-E-TA), Opponent (Sets) Date
.750 Katy Grady (12-0-16) vs. Auburn (3s) 8-30-03
.750 Abby Baumann (12-0-16) at San Diego St. (3s) 9-03-05
.737 Lauren Bloemke (14-0-19) vs. Evansville (3s) 11-04-07
.714 Amanda Cvejdlik (15-0-21) vs. Drake (3s) 10-03-08
.667 Katy Grady (12-0-18) at Drake (3s) 9-27-03
.667 Kelly Goc (14-0-21) vs. Stephen F. Austin (3s) 8-25-07
.632 Amanda Cvejdlik (12-2-19) vs. Indiana St. (3s) 10-22-05
.625 Kelly Goc (26-1-40) vs. Drake (4s) 11-16-07
.615 Alicia Runge (17-1-26) vs. Bradley (4s) 9-25-10
.607 Carolyn Decker (17-0-28) vs. Bradley (3s) 11-13-04
Dos Liberos
After playing Nayka Benitez at libero for each of the program's 41 matches the past two seasons, freshman Julianne Mandolfo claimed that role on Sept. 17. Benitez has been the libero for 48 sets this season, while Mandolfo has been in that position for 56 sets.
This marks just the third different season in the nine-year history of the libero that Creighton has used multiple liberos in the same season.
In 2006, Katie Mehal (113 sets) and Sarah Schulze (three sets) both wore the alternate jersey.
In 2005, five different players were libero at one point: Mallory Lahm (51 sets), Emily Greisch (12 sets), Brittany Coleman (38 sets), Molly Lahr (one set) and Mehal (three sets).
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0
At the start of the conference season, all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools harbored dreams of a regular-season league title.
Since the beginning of the Gateway Conference (which later merged to form the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992) in 1983, no school has ever won the regular-season 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.
The only teams that remained undefeated after the first weekend of play this fall were Creighton (2-0), Northern Iowa (2-0) and Illinois State (1-0).
Home Losses Are Also Devastating
The 2006 Northern Iowa and 2007 Wichita State teams are the only programs in MVC history to lose a home conference match and still win the regular-season title outright in that same season.
It's also worth noting that 16 of the last 17 regular-season MVC champions (including Northern Iowa this year) finished the year with one regular-season league loss or fewer. The exception was that 2006 UNI team that was 16-2, with both losses coming against Wichita State.
Runge on a Tear
Alicia Runge had 10 or more kills in her final match of 2009, and her first 15 contests of 2010. That streak came to an end on Oct. 2 when she had six kills on just 18 swings at Indiana State. The stretch was third-longest in Bluejay history.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Kills
58 Leah Ratzlaff, Sept. 13, 2003-Sept. 9, 2005
19 JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 26-Nov. 21, 1997
16 Alicia Runge, Nov. 27, 2009 - Oct. 1, 2010
14 Kelly Goc, Sept. 8-Oct. 19, 2007
13 JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 7-Oct. 18, 1996
Road Sweeps To Start
Creighton has swept six of its 11 true road matches to date, sweeping Saint Louis, Marquette, Southern Illinois, Evansville, Indiana State and Bradley, in addition to a 3-1 win at Illinois State. This was the first time in program history that the team has started a season 6-0 on the road.
The Jays, who swept Bradley in Peoria to end the 2009 regular-season, swept five straight true road matches for the first time in school history.
Creighton's seven-match road win streak tied a school-record, also done in 2007.
All-Tourney Duo, Again
For the second straight weekend, Alicia Runge and Megan Bober picked up all-tournament team honors at the Marquette Invitational while leading the Jays to a second-place showing.
Bober averaged 9.58 assists, 2.25 digs, 1.76 kills and 0.83 blocks per set while hitting .319. This was her second career honor to an all-Tourney Team.
Runge averaged 4.58 kills and 0.83 digs per set while hitting .358. It was the third straight tournament that the senior has been recognized.
Two Points From A Title x 2
Creighton finished second in each of its final two preseason tournaments. In both events, the Jays went 2-1 and their only loss was by two points in the fifth set.
In the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge, Creighton lost 20-18 in the fifth set against Iowa. At the Marquette Invitational, Creighton lost 15-13 in the fifth set of a match vs. Toledo.
On the season, Creighton is 13-13 in sets decided by exactly two points. was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week.
Non-Conference Report Card
Creighton started 5-5 after a non-conference schedule gauntlet full of postseason hopefuls, including three teams picked to win their conferences (Central Michigan, Nebraska, Lipscomb).
If the past is any indication, good things happen when Creighton goes .500 or better through 10 matches.
The last time Creighton was 5-5 after 10 matches in 2008, the Jays finished a best-ever 15-3 in the MVC and alone in second place.
In both 2006 and 2007, Creighton was over .500 after 10 matches and would finish 21-10 overall.
All eight Bluejay teams to be .500 or better after 10 matches finished fifth or higher in the league, and all would also post a winning record in Valley play to finish with a winning overall record.
Tied For First, But Second Place
Though Creighton finished with a 2-1 mark that was identical to Iowa's final record at the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge, it was the Hawkeyes who celebrated with the team title.
With two teams finished at 2-1, Iowa won the tiebreaker by virtue of its head-to-head victory over Creighton.
Had Saint Louis been able to maintain its 5-0 lead early in the fifth set to defeat Iowa in the tournament finale, Creighton would have won the event since Creighton defeated Saint Louis head-to-head.
Comeback For The Ages Falls Short
Creighton posted a comeback for the ages on Sept. 4, surviving seven different match point opportunities before eventually falling 20-18 in the fifth set of a match vs. Iowa.
Creighton trailed 14-9 before winning five consecutive points to tie the score. Creighton also held on when facing match point at 15-14 and 18-17.
Iowa also survived multiple match points, getting sideouts with CU serving for the match at 16-15 and 17-16.
The combined 38 points between Creighton and Iowa in the fifth set were the most in school history. Below are the most points scored in a fifth set in school history. Creighton is 11-2 all-time when scoring 16 or more points in the fifth set of a match.
CU - Most Points Scored, 5th Set, School History
Score Opponent Date
W 19-17 vs. Idaho 09/02/00
W 19-17 Evansville 09/27/02
W 18-16 Evansville 11/14/98
W 18-16 vs. McNeese State 08/30/03
L 18-20 vs. Iowa 09/04/10
W 17-15 at Wichita State 10/13/06
W 17-15 at Drake 09/11/07
L 16-18 Drake 11/15/02
W 16-14 at Drake 09/13/97
W 16-14 at Evansville 11/04/00
W 16-14 Wichita State 10/10/03
W 16-14 vs. Marquette 09/11/05
W 16-14 at Northern Iowa 11/18/05
Runge & Bober Earn All-Tourney in St. Louis
A pair of Creighton players were named to the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team in St. Louis on Sept. 3-4.
Senior OH Alicia Runge earned the honor after averaging 4.91 kills and 0.55 blocks per set while hitting .254 in three matches. Runge led CU in kills all three matches, including a career-high 26 vs. Iowa.
Also recognized was sophomore setter Megan Bober. Bober averaged 10.55 assists, 2.45 digs, 1.00 blocks and 1.45 kills per set, helping Creighton to .228 hitting.
Iowa's Bethany Yeager was named MVP, and joined on the All-Tournament Team by Mallory Husz (Iowa), Alyssa Deno (Saint Louis) and Kelsey Jones (Wake Forest).
Savannah Smith Shines; Named MVC FOW
True freshman MB Savannah Smith had a big weekend in St. Louis on Sept. 3-4, averaging 1.55 kills, 1.64 blocks and hitting .350 in three matches.
Smith had seven blocks and four kills vs. Saint Louis, five kills and seven blocks while hitting .385 vs. Iowa, and wrapped up her weekend with a career-best eight kills, four blocks and .389 hitting versus Wake Forest.
Smith followed her weekend with seven kills and .400 hitting vs. Toledo on Sept. 10th, becoming Creighton's first freshman ever to pound five or more kills while hitting .385 or better in three consecutive matches.
For her efforts, Smith was named MVC Freshman of the Week on Sept. 5th.
Mandolfo Digs Deep
Freshman DS Julianne Mandolfo became the second player (and first non-libero) in school history to record 10 or more digs in the first six matches of her career, a streak that was snapped on Sept. 4 vs. Wake Forest.
Mandolfo's 13 digs in her debut vs. San Francisco were third-most in school history, and tops of any non-libero.
Former libero Bianca Rivera owns the school record with 10 or more digs in the first 27 matches of her career in 2007.
Runge On Bluejay Invite All-Tourney Team
Alicia Runge was Creighton's top offensive weapon all weekend at the Bluejay Invitational, and that excellence was rewarded with a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
Runge led Creighton in kills during all three matches, including 18 vs. San Francisco and 19 versus Lipscomb. Both of those matches eclipsed her 2009 high of 17 kills in a contest.
Runge was joined on the All-Tournament Team by San Francisco's Joan Caloiaro, Lipscomb's Jake Pease and Alex Kelly, and the Kansas tandem of Allison Mayfield and Karina Garlington. Garlington was named tournament MVP.
Almgren All Over
Junior Karisa Almgren had a breakthrough weekend at the Bluejay Invitational, posting 25 kills and nine blocks on .250 hitting in 60 swings.
Compare that to her first two years with the Bluejays, when Almgren amassed 18 total kills and nine total blocks.
Almgren's top offensive match of the opening weekend saw her claim single-match career highs with 11 kills and five blocks vs. Lipscomb.
She eclipsed that personal best with 12 kills while hitting .400 in a three-set victory over Saint Louis on Sept. 3.
On Oct. 8 vs. Missouri State, Almgren had four of her career-high 13 kills in the fifth set of the 3-2 victory.
Almgren ranks fourth on the team with 179 kills and third with 510 attack attempts this fall.
Thunder Of Thorson
Karisa Almgren isn't the only Bluejay that has stepped up, as sophomore Heather Thorson also has showed off her improved skills when given the opportunity.
Thorson averages 1.33 kills per set as well as 0.82 blocks per set. That includes a career-best nine kills vs. Kansas on Aug. 28, a figure she tied on Oct. 9 in a five-set win over Wichita State and again on Nov. 20 vs. Southern Illinois.
Thorson owns 122 kills and 75 blocks this year after posting 29 kills and 22 blocks her entire freshman campaign.
Going Streaking
Before being limited to just five digs on Aug. 31 vs. Nebraska, Allie Oelke had owned 10 or more digs in each of her previous 18 matches. That was the fourth-longest streak in school history, and is the longest mark by any Bluejay outside hitter.
After the Nebraska contest, Oelke started a new streak that lasted 15 straight matches. She owns 10 or more digs in 39 of her last 43 matches.
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
18 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009 - Aug. 28, 2010
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
15 Nayka Benitez, Nov. 13, 2009-Sept. 10, 2010
15 Allie Oelke, Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2010
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
74 Janeen Piller 2001-04
67 Allie Oelke 2007-Pres.
65 Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
64 Kailey Reyes 1998-01
64 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Bloemke Out With Injury
Fifth-year senior MB Lauren Bloemke will miss the 2010 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during the final week of July. Bloemke had surgery on the knee on August 17th.
Bloemke, who missed most of last season after tearing the ACL in her left knee in the spring of 2009, will remain involved with the program as a student assistant coach and remains on pace to graduate in the spring.
Bloemke ranks 19th in school history with 478 career kills and ninth in both career block assists (218) and career total blocks (254).
Game 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 123 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 111-12. CU is 117-16 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. Creighton is just 20-83 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 23-14 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
2010 2-3 18-10
Total 38-42 231-251
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 149-8 (.949) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including an 90-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 72-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-158 (.037) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-53 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
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 138-1 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa in an eventual 20-18 loss.
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
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton has been picked fourth in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches. Defending regular-season champion Northern Iowa was the unanimous pick to win the league, with Missouri State and Wichita State second and third. Creighton fourth and Drake fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Evansville, Indiana State and Bradley.
Each of the past seven 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 - -
2010 4th 3rd #1
The Votes Add Up
Creighton has eight matches scheduled against teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll. Four of those squads will visit D.J. Sokol Arena, including No. 2 Nebraska, No. 24 Northern Iowa and votegetters Wichita State and Missouri State.
Creighton also plays on the road at No. 24 Northern Iowa as well as votegetters Saint Louis, Wichita State and Missouri State.
Production Returning
Creighton returns 11-of-14 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1256 (94.8%) 69 (5.2%)
Aces 90 (80.4%) 22 (19.6%)
Digs 1377 (75.2%) 454 (24.8%)
Matches Started 129 (69.4%) 57 (30.6%)
Blocks 242.0 (68.3%) 112.5 (31.7%)
Points 1274.0 (67.7%) 607.5 (32.3%)
Kills 942 (66.6%) 473 (33.4%)
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics
The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2010 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 are one of eight Division I schools nationwide to win the award in seven consecutive campaigns.
The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA. Last fall the Bluejay volleyball team posted a combined GPA of 3.50.
Huskers Returned To Campus, Finally
Aug. 31 marked Nebraska volleyball's first visit the Creighton campus since 1980, when the Huskers swept a best-of-three contest at Kiewit Center.
Since then, Creighton had twice hosted its in-state rival, but both of those matches took place at Qwest Center Omaha.
Crowd Control
The Aug. 31 crowd of 2,514 fans vs. Nebraska was the fourth-largest home crowd in program history for match, and was the first sellout at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Previously, the largest crowd at D.J. Sokol Arena had been the 2,285 that saw Creighton host Texas Tech last year on Aug. 28, 2009.
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 Site
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 Qwest
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 Qwest
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 Qwest
2,514 #7 Nebraska 08/31/10 Sokol
2,285 Texas Tech 08/28/09 Sokol
1,557 Northern Iowa 11/21/08 Civic
1,357 Northern Iowa 10/20/07 Civic
1,325 Indiana State 09/29/07 Civic
1,319 Northern Iowa 10/06/06 Civic
1,304 San Francisco 08/27/10 Sokol
1,250 #16 Northern Iowa 09/24/10 Sokol
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 23 matches (12 home, 11 away) this season. The matches will air on KOIL (1180 AM) and KKAR (1290 AM) and be webcast on-line at www.gocreighton.com as well.
The pre-match show starts approximately 5-15 minutes before first serve. The post-match show also lasts about 15 minutes and includes post-match interviews.
A complete list of remaining matches follows:
2010 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Nov. 25 vs. Drake (KOIL)
Nov. 26 vs. Wichita State (KOIL)
Nov. 27 at MVC Tournament Finals (KOIL)
Last Year Summary
Creighton went 14-17 last year but managed to finish tied for fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 10-8 league record.
Senior Jessica Houts ranked 12th nationally with 1.44 blocks per set and earned a spot on the all-Valley First Team for a second straight season. The stellar blocking of Houts as well as Laurel Sanford (1.30 bps.) and Megan Bober (0.93) helped Creighton rank third nationally in blocks per set.
The 2009 season saw Creighton move into a new on-campus home, D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center, as the program hosted the State Farm MVC Tournament for the first time.
