Volleyball Comes Home to Host Bluejay Invitational
9/1/2011 10:27:00 AM | Volleyball
This Weekend -- Bluejay Invitational
Sept. 2 4:30 pm Marquette vs. South Dakota Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 2 7 pm Northern Illinois at Creighton (1290 KKAR) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 3 10 am Northern Illinois vs. Marquette Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 3 Noon South Dakota at Creighton (1180 KOIL) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 3 5:30 pm South Dakota vs. Northern Illinois Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 3 7:30 pm Marquette at Creighton (1290 KKAR) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
This Weekend
Creighton plays its first home matches of the season when it hosts the Bluejay Invitational this weekend.
The tournment begins on Friday at 4:30 pm when Marquette (2-2) takes on South Dakota (1-3), followed at 7 pm when Northern Illinois (3-2) plays host Creighton (1-3).
On Saturday, a Northern Illinois-Marquette tilt at 10 am starts off the day, followed by a noon start for South Dakota-Creighton.
After a short break, the night session begins when South Dakota plays Northern Illinois and Creighton takes on Marquette.
All six matches will take place at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center (2,500) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio Broadcast Information
Creighton's 24-match radio broadcast schedule continues this weekend with three more matches. Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will be on the call.
Both evening contests can be heard on KKAR (1290 AM), while Saturday afternoon's match vs. South Dakota is on KOIL (1180 AM).
All three Creighton matches are also streamed on-line via a link at www.gocreighton.com.
Video Webcast Information
All matches from this weekend's Bluejay Invitational will be video webcast.
To sign up, visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Video tab on the left sidebar. A 4-month subscription costs $34.95, while a monthly subscription costs $10.95 per month.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the Bluejay Invitational 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.
Live stats from all of the Bluejay Invitational matches are also available on your mobile phone by clicking on www.gocreightonstats.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 1-3 on the season after three matches in Texas last weekend, followed by a road trip to Kansas State this past Tuesday. The Jays survived two match points to defeat UTSA, 3-2, then have lost road contests at Big 12 foes Texas A&M (3-0 and 3-1) and Kansas State (3-2).
The Bluejays return 11 letterwinners and four starters from last year's team that finished 21-12 overall and third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 13-5 league record. Creighton earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in program history and defeated No. 16 Iowa State to reach the tournament's second round. Creighton is picked third (of 10) in the MVC this fall.
Spearheading the returners are seniors Laurel Sanford (2.00 kps., 1.65 bps.) and Karisa Almgren (2.24 kps.), as well as junior Megan Bober (1.94 kps., 7.94 aps., 1.59 dps., 0.88 bps.). Sanford was a second-team all-MVC pick a year ago, while Bober was first-team all-Valley and earned honorable-mention All-America accolades.
Defensively, sophomore libero Julianne Mandolfo is leading the MVC with 5.59 digs per set.
As a team, Creighton averages 11.06 kills, 0.71 aces, 15.82 digs and 2.76 blocks per set while hitting .163 as a team.
Scouting Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is 3-2 on the young season, with wins over IUPUI (3-1), Cincinnati (3-0) and Green Bay (3-0) and setbacks against No. 18 Iowa State (3-1) and No. 14 Northern Iowa (3-0).
The Huskies went 27-8 last year and bring back six starters, which should make it no surprise that the team was picked to win the Mid-American Conference this fall for the first time.
Two Huskies were named preseason all-MAC, senior S Kristin Hoffman (12.19 aps.) and sophomore OH Lauren Wicinski (5.00 kps., 3.76 dps., 0.35 saps.). Hoffman was 17th nationally in assists per set last fall (11.51), while Wicinski ranked sixth nationally in kills per set (4.82 kps.) and was fourth with 71 aces during her standout freshman season a year ago.
Another NIU player to watch for is junior Mary Kurisch, who averages 2.47 kills per set while leading the club with 1.06 blocks per set and a .323 hitting percentage.
As a team, NIU averages 14.82 kills, 0.88 aces, 16.12 digs and 1.79 blocks per set while hitting a healthy .276 as a team.
Scouting South Dakota
South Dakota is 1-3 on the young season, falling to Gonzaga (3-1), DePaul (3-2) and Wyoming (3-0), but defeating Pacific-10 foe Oregon State (3-2) last week in a tournament in Laramie, Wyo.
The Coyotes went 14-19 a season ago but return eight letterwinners, including five starters and their libero.
Despite the returning experience, it was freshman OH Kendal Kritenbrink who led the team with 3.65 kills per set last week. Kritenbrink hails from Gretna and played as a prep at Omaha Gross High School.
Other top attackers last weekend for USD were Tahnee Reed (2.12 kps., .348%, 0.76 bps.) and Amber Aschoff (2.12 kps.). Aschoff is the younger sister of former UNI standout Shannon Aschoff.
As a team, USD averages 13.53 kills, 1.00 aces, 11.47 digs and 1.59 blocks per set while hitting .225 as a club.
Scouting Marquette
Marquette owns a 2-2 record on the season, with wins over Central Michigan (3-0) and Iowa (3-1), but losses to Saint Louis (3-1) and No. 14 Northern Iowa (3-0).
MU brings back four starters and its libero from last year's club that finished 23-9 and tied for third in the BIG EAST. This year's team was picked fourth in the league's preseason poll.
The Golden Eagles are led by honorable-mention All-America OH Ashley Beyer (2.00 kps., 1.69 dps.), as well as Ciara Jones (3.21 kps.) and Danielle Carlson (3.07 kps., .323%). Beyer is a preseason all-BIG EAST selection this fall.
Running the MU offense is freshman Chelsea Heier (10.64 kps., 2.57 dps.), while sophomore libero Julie Jeziorowski (5.14 dps.) controls the defense.
Marquette averages 12.14 kills, 1.00 aces, 15.43 digs and 1.71 blocks per set while hitting .184 as a team.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 142-104 record in her ninth 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. Last season she was named CVU.com's National Coach of the Year after leading Creighton to the second round during its first NCAA Tournament bid.
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.
Northern Illinois is coached by Ray Gooden, who is 159-131 in his 10th season with the Huskies. He is assisted by Coley Pawlikowski and Dan Pawlikowski.
South Dakota is led by Matt Houk, who is 51-43 in his fourth year with the Coyotes. He is assisted by Leanne Felsing.
Marquette is coached by Bond Shymansky, who is 43-23 in his third year with the Golden Eagles. Shymansky was previously head coach at Georgia Tech too, which gives him a career mark of 215-87 in 11 years overall. He is assisted by Craig Dyer and Michaela Franklin.
Series History vs. Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois won the only previously meeting between the schools, 30-28, 30-22, 30-27, on Sept. 1, 2001 in DeKalb. Erin Swanson had a match-high 18 kills for Creighton in that contest.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth has never faced Northern Illinois or Ray Gooden. Gooden has never faced Creighton either.
Series History vs. South Dakota
Creighton and South Dakota have not met since the Bluejays resumed volleyball in 1994.
Series History vs. Marquette
Creighton is 2-0 all-time against Marquette. The Jays beat the Golden Eagles in five sets (30-26, 28-30, 25-30, 30-22, 16-14) in Boulder, Colo., on Sept. 11, 2005 in the first meeting. Last year, Creighton swept MU 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 26-24) in Milwaukee.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 1-0 against Marquette and Bond Shymansky.
Last Match Summary
Creighton lost a 3-2 decision at Kansas State on Tuesday. Creighton won the first and fourth sets, and owned leads of 11-8 and 13-11 in the final set before K-State scored the final four points to take the win.
Megan Bober had 28 assists, nine kills and eight digs, while Julianne Mandolfo had 32 digs. KSU was led by 24 kills, 13 digs and nine blocks from Kaitlynn Pelger.
Last Year Summary
Creighton had its most successful year in program history, tying a school-record with 21 wins while also reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Megan Bober was named first-team all-MVC and honorable-mention All-American after averaging 10.26 assists, 1.95 digs, 1.48 kills and 0.92 blocks per set. Named second-team all-Valley were Laurel Sanford (2.47 kps., 1.10 bps.) and Alicia Runge (3.73 kps.). In addition, Julianne Mandolfo (4.28 dps.) was named to the MVC's All-Freshman Team.
Creighton ranked second nationally with 18.94 digs per set a season ago and was also top-60 in kills per set and blocks per set.
Home Opener History
Last year's win over San Francisco improved Creighton to 11-6 in home openers. Kirsten Bernthal Booth moved to 6-2 at Creighton in home openers with the win over the Dons.
Quest For A Title Continues
Though this will be the seventh edition of the Bluejay Invitational, host Creighton is still in search of its first championship at its own tournament. Creighton is 8-8 in its Bluejay Invitational history.
Champions, by year, include Iowa State (2005), Iowa (2006), Middle Tennessee (2007), Minnesota (2008), Illinois (2009) and Kansas (2010).
Longitude Aptitude
There have been 13 previous schools (besides Creighton) to play in the Bluejay Invitational. Teams located west of Omaha are a combined 1-15 with no titles, while teams to the east of Omaha are 21-7 with six titles.
Of this year's field, Marquette and Northern Illinois are east of Omaha while South Dakota is located west of Omaha.
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 55-65 in the 40 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 1-2 mark this year. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 35-32 in 24 regular-season tournaments, including five titles.
The last tournament title came Sept. 9-10, 2006, when CU won the Blue Raider Bash hosted by Middle Tennessee with wins over Saint Louis, Miami (Ohio) and Middle Tennessee.
Creighton had won just two of 16 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival.
Home Streak Is A Record
Creighton enters this weekend with a school-record eight-match home winning streak dating to Sept. 25, 2010.
The streak includes two wins over teams that made the 2010 NCAA Tournament (Wichita State, Missouri State) and Creighton has won the first set in all eight contests.
How impressive is Creighton's eight straight home wins? The combined active total of the home win streaks of the other nine teams in the MVC totals just seven (4 by ILS and 1 each by INS, UNI, WSU).
Growing Pains Lead To Success
Creighton enters this weekend with a 1-3 mark, but all is not lost. Last season's team, which tied a school-record with 21 wins and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance, also started 1-3.
Creighton turned around its season by going 2-1 each of the next two weekends in tournaments at Saint Louis and at Marquette before opening league play 7-1.
This is the fourth straight season that Creighton has started exactly 1-3. However, the Jays have benefited from the strong scheduling by going a combined 38-16 in league play during the past three years.
Just In Time
Creighton Volleyball faced a 14-12 fifth-set deficit against preseason Southland Conference favorite UTSA in last Friday morning's season-opener, only to rally for a 16-14 set victory to win the match.
Creighton has now won five matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. On the other hand, Creighton is 142-1 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 fifth set loss.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
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
Triple-Double Fun
Junior setter Megan Bober had her first career triple-double in last Friday's season-opening win vs. UTSA, finishing with 51 assists, 14 digs and a career-high 11 kills.
Bober's triple-double is the ninth in Creighton history, but first one since Kailey Reyes had her school-record fourth in 2001.
Creighton Triple-Doubles
Melissa Weisensee
1) 40a-19d-10k vs. Illinois State (4s) 9/10/94
2) 65a-22d-12k at Evansville (5s) 11/9/97
JoDe Cieloha
1) 15k-10d-12b at Bradley (3s) 9/9/95
2) 22k-15d-12b at Western Illinois (5s) 11/10/96
Kailey Reyes
1) 62a-21d-10k at Indiana State (5s) 10/16/98
2) 47a-11d-11k at Wichita State (5s) 10/9/99
3) 71a-17d-13k at Indiana State (5s) 10/14/00
4) 48a-11d-11k at UMKC (4s) 10/28/01
Megan Bober
1) 51a-14d-11k vs. UTSA (5s) 8/26/11
Attack of the Setter
Despite her role as a setter, Megan Bober was the only Bluejay with multiple matches of 10 or more kills last weekend. She had a career-best 11 kills vs. UTSA in the opener, then 10 more against Texas A&M on Saturday.
Bober's 11 kills were the most by a Bluejay setter since Kailey Reyes had 11 kills at UMKC on Oct. 28, 2001 during the last triple-double in program history, and tied for third-most by a setter in program history. Reyes had 13 kills at Indiana State on Oct. 14, 2000 and Melissa Weisensee had 12 kills at Evansville on Nov. 9, 1997.
Bober has led Creighton in kills in each of the last two matches, a highly unusual feat for a setter. Just how rare is it? In the 17 previous seasons of Creighton Volleyball, only once in 487 matches had the same player led the team in both kills and assists in the same match. That came on Oct. 5, 2002, when Jaden Custer topped the Jays with seven kills and 13 assists in a three-set loss at Missouri State.
Multi-Option Offense
In addition to the team-high nine kills from Megan Bober on Tuesday, five other Bluejays had between six and eight kills as part of Creighton's diverse attack. Laurel Sanford, Natalie Hackbarth and Karisa Almgren each had eight kills, Heather Thorson had seven and Kelli Browning had six putaways.
Nebraskans Return Home
Both South Dakota and Northern Illinois have Nebraska natives returning to their home state this weekend.
South Dakota's roster features Riley Haug (Gretna), Katie Bunkers (Columbus), Tahnee Reed (Pierce) and Kendall Kritenbrink (Gretna).
NIU's squad includes Omaha product Tori Halbur.
Hello World!
Two of the 16 players on Creighton's 2011 team have never played a point at the Division I level, freshmen Leah McNary and Lizzy Stivers. Last Friday Kelli Browning, Katie Neisler and Michelle Sicner made their Division I debut.
Neisler's 18 digs vs. UTSA were a program-record for a debut, three more than the previous best of 15 by Nayka Benitez in 2009. Additionally, Browning's six blocks were two more than the previous best set by Lauren Bloemke in 2006. Browning also had 11 kills against the Roadrunners, the most by a Bluejay in their debut sine JoDe Cieloha's 13 in 1994.
Since 2000, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005), Allie Oelke (2007), Brooke Boggs (2009), Heather Thorson (2009), Julianne Mandolfo (2010), Katie Neisler (2011) and Michelle Sicner (2011).
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts. Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2011 Kelli Browning 5 11 3 31 .258 0 0 1 6
2009 Megan Bober• 3 7 0 11 .636 32 0 2 1
2011 Katie Neisler• 5 5 5 24 .000 1 0 18 1
2009 Heather Thorson• 3 3 0 6 .500 0 0 0 2
2010 Savannah Smith 4 3 1 7 .286 0 0 1 2
2008 Laurel Sanford 2 2 0 2 1.000 0 0 0 0
2010 J. Mandolfo• 4 0 0 0 --- 1 0 13 0
2009 Brooke Boggs• 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 3 0
2009 Brittany Moon 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
2008 Karisa Almgren 1 0 0 0 --- 0 1 0 0
2010 Brianne Fliss 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
2010 Natalie Hackbarth 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 0
2011 Michelle Sicner• 5 0 1 4 -.250 1 0 9 1
2010 Lexi Malm 1 0 1 3 -.333 0 0 1 0
Stepping Up
Veteran leaders Karisa Almgren and Heather Thorson each had a big match vs. UTSA to open the regular-season.
Almgren tied her career-high with 14 kills, while Thorson's 11 kills were one shy of her career-best.
Creighton is 9-3 all-time when Almgren has nine or more kills in a match and 5-1 when Thorson reaches that figure.
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton has been picked third in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches. Defending regular-season champion Northern Iowa was the unanimous pick to win the league, with Wichita State second. Creighton is third, Missouri State fourth and Illinois State fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Drake, Evansville, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Bradley.
In addition, Megan Bober was named preseason all-MVC.
Each of the past eight 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
2011 3rd ??? ???
Bober's The Best At Blocking
Last season Creighton setter Megan Bober had 114 blocks, the most in one year by a Creighton setter in program history. Bober, who had 107 blocks as a freshman, is the only player in Creighton history to have both 100 blocks and 100 assists in the same season.
Bober's 0.92 blocks per set last season ranked second nationally among setters (trailing only National Player of the Year Carli Lloyd from California), and Bober was the nation's only player to average at least 1.40 kills, 0.90 blocks and 10.00 assists per set.
Record Watch
With 28 blocks in her first four matches this year, Laurel Sanford has moved into sixth in school history with 270 career block assists.
Sanford's 303 career total blocks rank her seventh in program history, four behind Sarah Beulke (2001-04) for sixth place.
Megan Bober owns 2,514 career assists, becoming the fifth player in program history with 2,500 in her career.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton has six matches scheduled against teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.
Creighton will play No. 5 Nebraska in Lincoln on Sept. 8, two days before taking on also receiving votegetter Saint Mary's.
Creighton also has home-and-home matches with conference rivals Northern Iowa and Wichita State. UNI was ranked No. 14 in the preseason poll, while Wichita State received votes.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 25-15 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-1 mark this season. 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 3-3 21-12
2011 1-1 1-3
Total 40-43 235-256
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 151-8 (.950) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 92-2 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 6-161 (.036) 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
Production Returning
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1415 (91.2%) 137 (8.8%)
Aces 89 (56.3%) 69 (43.7%)
Digs 1264 (53.8%) 1085 (46.2%)
Matches Started 140 (70.7%) 58 (29.3%)
Blocks 230.5 (78.7%) 62.5 (21.3%)
Points 1234.5 (58.0%) 892.5 (42.0%)
Kills 915 (54.6%) 761 (45.4%)
Set 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 128 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 115-13. CU is 122-17 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. In that same time span, CU is just 20-87 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Browning Earns Valley Honor
Kelli Browning earned MVC Freshman of the Week honors on Aug. 29 for her play at the Texas A&M Invitational. Browning averaged 1.58 kills and 1.08 blocks per set while hitting .241 in three matches last week.
She opened her career with six blocks and 11 kills in a five-set win over UTSA. The six blocks were the most in a debut in school history, while her 11 kills rank second-highest and were the most in a debut since 1994. She closed her week with five kills and five blocks vs. Texas A&M.
Moving On Up
Sophomore Julianne Mandolfo had 31 digs on Friday vs. UTSA and a season-best 32 digs at Kansas State on Tuesday.
Her four career matches with 30 or more digs tie the Creighton school record done by three other women, while her 14 career matches with 20 or more digs ranks fourth in program annals.
The only player in Creighton history with more than two matches of 30+ digs in the same season is Janeen Piller in 2004, which occured back when sets were played to 30 (not 25).
Laurel Sanford had 11 blocks on Saturday vs. Texas A&M, making her the third player in Creighton history with four career matches of 10 or more blocks.
Matches With 30+ Digs, Career
30+D Name Years
4 Janeen Piller 2001-04
4 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
4 Nayka Benitez 2009-10
4 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-Pres.
1 Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
1 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
19 Nayka Benitez 2009-10
14 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-Pres.
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
Matches With 10+ Blocks, Career
10+B Name Years
4 Ashley Williams 2001-04
4 Jessica Houts 2006-09
4 Laurel Sanford 2008-Pres.
3 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics
The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2011 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 are one of seven Division I schools nationwide to win the award in eight 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 3.45.
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 24 matches (14 home, 10 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:
2011 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Sept. 2 Northern Illinois (KKAR)
Sept. 3 South Dakota (KOIL)
Sept. 3 Marquette (KKAR)
Sept. 8 at Nebraska (KOIL)
Sept. 9 vs. Weber State (KOIL)
Sept. 10 vs. Saint Mary's (KOIL)
Sept. 16 Drake (KOIL)
Sept. 17 McNeese State (KOIL)
Sept. 17 UAB (KOIL)
Sept. 30 Illinois State (KOIL)
Oct. 1 Indiana State (KOIL)
Oct. 7 at Missouri State (KOIL)
Oct. 8 at Wichita State (KOIL)
Oct. 14 Bradley (KOIL)
Oct. 15 Northern Iowa (KOIL)
Oct. 21 Southern Illinois (KOIL)
Oct. 22 Evansville (KOIL)
Oct. 29 at Illinois State (KOIL)
Nov. 4 Wichita State (KOIL)
Nov. 5 Missouri State (KOIL)
Nov. 11 at Northern Iowa (KOIL)
Nov. 12 at Bradley (KOIL)
Nov. 19 at Drake (KOIL)
Nov. 24-26 at MVC Tournament (KOIL)
Creighton Ticket Information
Tickets to Creighton's home regular-season matches can be purchased at the Creighton Ticket Office located inside the Ryan Athletic Center (19th and Webster) as well as all Ticketmaster outlets.
Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-18) for reserved seats and $7 (adult) and $4 (youth) for general admission seating. Children two and under are admitted free.
Creighton has sold a school-record 890 season tickets for volleyball this year. Single-match tickets went on sale Aug. 29th.
What's New?
Several rules have been modified for the 2011 season. Most noticeable is the following:
In 2010, Rule 1.1.1.2 was modified to permit media personnel onto the court during timeouts and between sets. To clarify, that permission was
intended for video camera operators and their support crew who are associated with recognized media outlets, and who have been approved/credentialed by the host institution prior to the match.
Rule 4.2.4 describes the ruling when nonplayers (for example, media personnel or spectators) interfere with a legitimate effort by a player to play the ball. To clarify, cheerleaders are considered spectators, and legitimate interference caused by a cheerleader (or cheerleader “gear”)
may result in a replay. When clearing an area to allow play, cheerleaders should make every effort to take their “gear” (megaphones, pompons, etc.) with them to avoid injury.
The restrictions on use of electronic aids as described in Rule 6.1.5 have not been changed. Prohibited items include the use of a computer or
other device that is used to transmit any information (including statistics) to the bench from any area in the facility other than the bench.
Rule 7.2.2 describes jewelry as illegal equipment. To further clarify, dermal implants (jewelry surgically implanted in the skin) is considered jewelry, and is to be considered illegal equipment. Sub-dermal implants (embedded items that do not protrude/break the skin) are permitted.
The following points of emphasis will also be watched:
Rules 10.3.1 and 10.3.2 describe the requirements for players to be in legal positions at the time of service contact. Second referees must work very diligently to track the position of the receiving team and ensure that the rules regarding position faults are applied. While preventative officiating or “warnings” are encouraged when players are close to an illegal position, blatant position faults (overlaps) should be whistled when they occur. Of course, just like any other rules infraction, the second referee should not whistle a position fault (overlap) unless s/he is absolutely sure the fault has occurred.
Rule 10.1.1.1 was changed in 2010 to indicate that lineups for the first set are due at the three-minute mark on the clock timing the pre-match warmups, and allowed changes to be made by the coaches without penalty or substitution until the one-minute mark. Rule 18.4.3.2 further clarifies that other match personnel (statistics crews, announcer, etc.) should not be permitted to see the lineups until they are final, which means at the one-minute mark. At that time, the lineups can be provided to those individuals.
The rule book Event Management section states that there should be chairs available for line judges at or near the score table (meaning, behind or at the table), to be used prior to the match as needed, and between sets. Event Management personnel should provide this seating area. If the facility set-up does not provide space for chairs in this area, the line judges should stand behind the score table, not courtside. If there is not room for the line judges to sit or stand behind the score table, the final option is that, after getting water, the line judges return to a position near the first referee's stand, at the attack line/sideline intersection, moving near to the R1 stand if teams are warming up on the court.
It is a fairly frequent occurrence that a substitute enters the substitution zone and the coach really does not want that substitution to occur. Some coaches do not know what their options are at that time – there is a general belief that the substitution simply must be completed. Once a substitute enters the zone and the second referee whistles to acknowledge the request, the coach's options are to either quickly complete the substitution or be charged a delay sanction. If a delay sanction is assessed, neither that substitution nor a subsequent substitution on that dead ball will be allowed.
It is part of the typical protocol in a collegiate volleyball match to have a brief meeting between coaches and referees during the warm-up period. The purpose of this meeting is to exchange necessary information only, and referees are being instructed to keep this interchange professional and brief. Both coaches and referees should limit the discussion to information pertinent to the upcoming contest.
As a reminder, NCAA women's volleyball rules did NOT change to the current USAV ruling on net faults. The NCAA rule still calls faults when net contact is made while playing the ball EVEN IF the contact is in the middle or bottom of the net.
It is re-emphasized that, whenever possible, spectators should be restricted from the playing area through the use of stanchions or by establishing spectator walkways that are not part of the playing area.
