Volleyball Makes First MVC Road Trip of Season To SIU, UE
9/27/2012 10:32:00 AM | Volleyball
This Weekend
Sept. 28 7:00 pm Creighton at Southern Illinois Carbondale, Ill. (Davies Gym)
Sept. 29 5:00 pm Creighton at Evansville Evansville, Ind. (Meeks Family Court)
Creighton Volleyball (12-2, 3-0 MVC) hits the road in MVC play for the first time this season when it visits Southern Illinois (11-3, 2-2 MVC) and Evansville (5-11, 1-3 MVC) this weekend.
The Jays and Salukis will meet on “Pack The Gym” night at Davies Gym (1,250) in Carbondale, Ill., in a 7 pm contest on Friday.
Saturday night, Creighton plays at Evansville at 5 pm in a match that will be contested at Meeks Family Court (800).
Radio Information
Both matches this weekend will have radio.
Friday's match at Southern Illinois will air on student radio station “The Remedy”. To listen, visit http://www.widb.net/wp/remedy and click on the “Listen Live' button in the middle of the page.
The contest at Evansville can be heard in Evansville on WUEV (91.5 FM) or on-line at http://www.wuev.org
Video Information
Both matches this weekend are scheduled for live video and are NOT part of the JaysLive subscription package.
A subscription to purchase live video of Friday's match at Southern Illinois can be accessed at http://www.siusalukis.com/allaccess/. A monthly, automatically renewing, subscription costs $9.95 per month.
A subscription to purchase live video of Saturday's match at Evansville can be accessed at http://www.gopurpleaces.com/showcase/. A 24-hour pass costs $6.95.
Live Stats Information
Both contests this weekend will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats graphic at the top of the page for the exact link.
Live stats from all Creighton home events are also available on your mobile phone by clicking on www.gocreightonstats.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton (12-2, 3-0 MVC) is off to its best 14-match start in the program's modern history and is also tied atop the MVC standings with a 3-0 league record.
Creighton's has beaten five NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a year ago (Tulsa, Northern Colorado, Ball State, Wichita State, Missouri State), and its only two losses have come to Kansas State and Kansas.
Two-time First-Team All-MVC pick Megan Bober (9.46 aps., 2.77 dps., 1.77 kps., 1.02 bps., .326%) was named Tournament MVP at the USF Invitational and All-Tournament at Northern Colorado. She was the lone Bluejay to earn Preseason All-MVC accolades this fall, has started all 109 matches in a Creighton uniform, and is the team's active leader in assists, blocks, digs, kills and aces.
Creighton's leading attackers have been sophomores Leah McNary (3.19 kps., .272%) and Kelli Browning (2.85 kps., 1.69 bps., .394%). McNary owns 10 or more kills in CU's last six matches, while Browning tied an MVC record with 15 block assists vs. Tulsa (Sept. 8th) and leads the nation in blocking.
Creighton's freshman class is also making an impact, as Kate Elman (4.44 dps.), Ashley Jansen (2.57 dps.), Melanie Jereb (2.15 kps., 2.69 dps.) and Lizzy Stivers (0.20 saps.) own 38 of the team's 63 aces thus far.
As a team, Creighton averages 13.35 kills, 1.21 aces, 16.31 digs and 3.10 blocks per set while hitting .257.
The Bluejays were picked fourth in the MVC this fall.
Scouting Southern Illinois
Under the direction of new head coach Justin Ingram, Southern Illinois is off to an 11-3 start this year. The Salukis lost their opener, ripped off a record-tying 11-match win streak, and then lost last weekend at Missouri State and Wichita State to fall to 2-2 in the MVC.
The Salukis boast a potent offense featuring three of the top five attackers in the MVC in Laura Thole (3.77 kps., 2.50 dps.), Alysia Mayes (3.71 kps., .410%, 0.46 saps., 1.33 bps.) and Jessica Whitehead (3.52 kps.). Mayes is 17th nationally in hitting percentage, 25th in aces and 32nd in blocks per set.
With so many options to choose from, it's not surprising that sophomore Amy Drabant (11.74 aps.) leads the MVC and is 11th nationally in assists per set while setting the Salukis to a .256 attack percentage.
Bailey Yeager averages 5.46 digs per set as the SIU libero, a figure that ranks 17th nationally.
SIU averages 14.21 kills, 1.50 aces, 16.38 digs and 2.52 blocks per set as a team.
The Salukis were picked sixth in the MVC's preseason poll.
Scouting Evansville
Evansville is 5-11 on the season, including a 1-3 MVC mark. The Purple Aces were swept by both Wichita State and Missouri State last weekend, snapping a two-match win streak.
Ashley Ring (3.82 kps., 2.95 dps.) leads The Valley in kills per set and is UE's top offensive option. Also averaging multiple kills per set is Lauren Seyller (2.08 kps.) and Hannah Wilson (2.02 kps.).
Jenn Murphy (8.47 aps.) leads the team in assists, while Katie Klages (5.11 dps.) tops the squad in digs per set.
UE averages 11.91 kills, 0.98 aces, 15.49 digs and 2.31 blocks per set while hitting .166 as a team.
The Purple Aces were picked ninth in the preseason MVC poll.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 170-117 record in her 10th 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. She was named the 2010 CVU.com National Coach of the Year after leading Creighton to the second round during its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
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.
Justin Ingram (Iowa State, 1995) is 11-3 in his first season at Southern Illinois, and 71-36 overall in his fourth year as a head coach. Ingram was hired after a successful three-year run at Arkansas State, and was previously an assistant coach at Kansas State from 2001-08. Ingram is assisted by Todd Nelson and Natasha Marquis.
Evansville is coached by Mike Swan (Manchester College, 1979), who is 120-173 record in his 10th year with the Aces. He owns a career mark of 507-403 in 26 seasons overall. He's assisted by Dean Torgerson and Stephanie Budde.
Series History vs. Southern Illinois
Creighton is 28-9 all-time vs. Southern Illinois, including a 13-5 mark in Carbondale. CU's 28 wins against SIU are tied for its most against any opponent along with Indiana State.
The Bluejays have won 19 straight meetings against SIU, its best run against any team in program history.
Season sweeps have been the norm in this series, as 1996 remains the only time in 18 years of meeting that the schools have split the season series.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 19-0 against Southern Illinois. She has never faced Justin Ingram.
Series History vs. Evansville
Creighton is 26-11 all-time against Evansville, including an 11-7 mark in Evansville against the Purple Aces. Eleven of the 37 meetings have gone the maximum five sets.
Creighton has won 16 of the past 17 meetings, including 12 straight from 2003-08.
The team winning the first set has won each of the last 16 meetings.
Creighton has won the first set in 15 of the last 16 meetings with UE and taken the third set in the past 18 encounters.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 17-1 all-time against Evansville and Mike Swan.
Last Match Summary
Creighton clinched its best start in program history with a 3-1 win over South Dakota on Tuesday in Omaha. Sophomore Leah McNary had 20 kills while classmate Kelli Browning added 18 kills in the victory.
Another Strong MVC Start
Creighton is off to a 3-0 start in MVC play for the fifth time in program history, and fourth time since 2006. Creighton's best ever start in league play was 7-0 in 2007.
Best MVC Starts
Year W-L First MVC Loss
2007 7-0 Wichita State
2003 5-0 Missouri State
2006 5-0 Northern Iowa
2011 5-0 at Missouri State
2012 3-0 ? ? ?
New Kid On The Block
Sophomore Leah McNary has been leading Creighton in kills virtually all season long, but she got into the act with her blocking as well during Tuesday's victory over South Dakota.
McNary entered the evening with 23 blocks in 13 matches, then had a career-best seven blocks vs. USD to lead all players.
McNary led Creighton in blocks in two different matches last season, but tied for the team lead in both instances.
September Surge
Creighton is 8-2 this September, and on the verge of one of its best records for any month in school history.
With two wins this weekend, the Jays would tie a school-record for wins in a month with 10, as the 2006 team went 10-3 in September.
In addition, CU has never had two losses or less in the month of September.
Let's Hear It For The Sophomores
Creighton's sophomore class earned 41 of Creighton's 56 kills in Tuesday's win over South Dakota.
Leah McNary had 20 kills, while classmate Kelli Browning chipped in with a career-best 18 kills. In addition, Michelle Sicner had three kills in the victory.
For the season, CU's sophomores (which also includes Katie Neisler and Savannah Smith) has been responsible for 359 of the team's 694 kills (51.7 percent).
Jack Of All Trades
Watch Megan Bober play and it's obvious her importance to Creighton. The senior setter and two-time All-Valley pick leads all active Bluejay players in kills (686), assists (3649), aces (64), digs (896) and blocks (351).
Bober already ranks in the top-10 in CU history in assists and blocks, and has a solid chance to finish in the top-10 in aces and digs as well.
Nov. 9 Start Time Changed
Creighton announced on Thursday that it has changed the start time for its Nov. 9 match vs. Indiana State. The Jays and Sycamores will now begin at 5 pm Central at D.J. Sokol Arena.
The move was made to avoid going head-to-head with Creighton men's basketball's regular-season opener vs. North Texas, which begins at 7 pm at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Best Start Ever After 14
Creighton's 12-2 start is the program's best ever after 14 matches, eclipsing the 2006 team that opened 11-3.
Creighton's most wins with three losses was 13 (in 2006), while its most wins with four losses was 15 (also in 2006).
Top 10 RPI
Monday marked the third rankings from the Rich Kern Percentage Index, a ranking system developed by RichKern.com that mimics the official NCAA RPI. Thanks in part to four wins over top-53 foes (Wisconsin, Tulsa, Northern Colorado, Wichita State), the Jays are 12th in this week's RKPI. Kansas State and Kansas, the only teams to beat CU this fall, are third and eighth, respectively.
CU's schedule is ranked as the No. 17th-toughest nationally.
Southern Illinois is No. 80 in the RKPI rankings, while Evansville comes in at No. 227.
Vote For CU!
Creighton received a pair of top-25 votes in the Aug. 27 AVCA poll. This was the first time in program history the team has received such recognition in the regular-season, as its only previous votes had come following the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when it received three points in the poll.
On Sept. 10th, Creighton reached new heights when it was voted into a tie for 36th place, earning seven votes.
The rise of the Jays continued on Sept. 17th, as Creighton is up to 32nd place with a best-ever total of 34 points in the poll.
This week the Jays are in 33rd place, earning 14 votes.
Creighton also had one voter select the Jays 25th in the Sept. 3rd poll, but AVCA policy requires multiple votes in order to be listed in the “others receiving votes” category of its weekly poll.
Creighton in the AVCA Poll, All-Time
Date Votes Received Rank
12/21/10 3 36th
08/27/12 2 T-38th
09/10/12 7 T-36th
09/17/12 34 32nd
09/24/12 14 33rd
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 170-8 (.955) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 112-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 82-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-171 (.034) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-58 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
Freshman Digging Pipeline
Creighton had two freshmen with 20 or more digs on Sept. 19th, as both Kate Elman (21) and Melanie Jereb (20) reached that plateau at Kansas. Believe it or not, it's the first time since the program's 1994 reinstatement that two Bluejay freshmen have had 20 or more digs in the same match.
Let's Compare
Let's take a look at how Creighton's start in 2012 compares to the past two seasons, as well as the aforementioned 2006 club's first 14 matches.
Stat 2012 2011 2010 2006
W-L Thru 14 12-2 7-7 8-6 11-3
Final W-L ? 17-14 21-12 21-10
Tourney Titles 2 0 0 2
Kills/Set 13.35 12.59 13.13 16.42
Hitting % .257 .203 .197 .218
Aces/Set 1.21 1.33 1.12 1.62
Digs/Set 16.31 16.90 18.21 17.29
Blocks/Set 3.10 2.50 2.45 2.80
CLASS Act
Creighton's Megan Bober is one of 30 student-athletes who excel both on and off the court and were announced as candidates for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate volleyball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Bober has started all 109 Creighton matches in the past four seasons and joined Northern Iowa's Amy Braun as the only MVC representatives on this year's list.
Bober ranks second in league history with 10 triple-doubles, and is currently averaging 1.77 kills, 9.46 assists, 2.77 digs and 1.02 blocks per set for a Bluejay team that is 12-2. In the classroom Bober maintains a 3.83 GPA while studying exercise science and is a four-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week selection.
Jereb A Past MVC Freshman of the Week
Melanie Jereb averaged 3.22 kills, 2.44 digs and 0.89 blocks per set while hitting .338 in wins vs. Missouri State (3-2) and Wichita State (3-1) to earn her MVC Freshman of the Week award on Sept. 17th. She also handled 46 serve receptions without an error, 24 of which the Jays converted directly into a kill.
Jereb recorded her first two collegiate double-doubles in the wins, finishing with 15 kills and 10 digs vs. MSU and 14 kills and 12 digs vs. WSU. Jereb's 15 kills against Missouri State were a career-high, as were her seven blocks. She served the final three points in CU's opening set victory, and would end up the match-clinching kill in the fifth set as well. Against the Shockers, Jereb had kills on the final three points of a 25-19 set one victory. She would serve a 4-0 run that gave the Jays a 20-16 lead in the third set and help CU to a 2-1 lead in the match.
Special Six
Five of Creighton's wins this year have come against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams in Ball State, Tulsa, Northern Colorado, Missouri State and Wichita State.
The Jays are now 5-1 against NCAA Tournament teams from 2011. The only Bluejay team in modern history with more wins against NCAA Tournament clubs was the 2008 squad that was 6-8 vs. 2007 NCAA qualifiers.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 5-1
TOTAL 31-94
TOTAL Under Booth 28-59
Special Freshman
Freshman Melanie Jereb had double-doubles in wins vs. both Missouri State (15 kills, 10 digs) and Wichita State (14 kills, 12 digs) on Sept. 14-15, making her the league's only outside hitter with two double-doubles in league play.
The last Creighton freshman to open her Valley career with consecutive double-doubles was Allie Oelke in 2007, who remains the only player in CU history to be named MVC Freshman of the Year.
Air McNary
Leah McNary had a career-best 21 kills in the Sept. 15 win over Wichita State, five more than her previous high.
McNary had seven matches of 10 or more kills a year ago, and has now done it 10 times already this season.
The sophomore from Florida currently owns six straight matches of 10 or more kills for the first time in her career.
McNary's 21 kills made her the first Bluejay with 20 or more kills since Laurel Sanford had 20 on Nov. 20, 2010 vs. Southern Illinois, and were the most since Alicia Runge had 21 kills at Wichita State on Nov. 5, 2010.
McNary is also the first player since Runge in 2010 with two contests of 20 or more kills in the same season.
Hundred in Hand
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 170 wins at the helm of the Bluejays.
That's 102 more than the previous record held by Howard Wallace, who went 68-94 as head coach from 1997-2002.
Booth surpassed Wallace as the program's winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007.
Working On The Weekend
Picked fourth in the preseason MVC poll, Creighton turned heads with wins over Missouri State (picked second) and Wichita State (picked third) during the first weekend of league play.
It's just the third time ever that CU has toppled the Bears and Shockers on the same weekend, having also done so in 1997 and in 2010.
Blocking Bluejays
Creighton tied a school-record by recording 21 blocks in its Sept. 8 win over Tulsa. CU's 38 block assists matched the high previous set on Sept. 4, 2009 vs. Lipscomb, while its 21 total blocks matched the team's performance on Sept. 19, 2003 vs. Southern Illinois.
In addition, sophomore MB Kelli Browning set a CU record and tied an MVC record with 15 block assists in a single match. Browning is the fourth player in league history with 15 block assists in a single contest.
Browning Honored By MVC
Sophomore Kelli Browning was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 10 after a huge weekend in Colorado. A middle blocker from Waukesha, Wis., Browning earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Northern Colorado Classic after hitting .362 and averaging 2.80 kills, 2.60 blocks and 0.30 aces per set in wins over three NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.
Browning opened her weekend with a then-career-best eight blocks in a 3-0 win over Ball State, adding four kills an ace, and a dig.
In Saturday (Sept. 8) morning's match vs. Tulsa, Browning had 11 kills on .276 hitting while adding an ace and a dig. She also tied an MVC record with 15 block assists in a match, easily eclipsing her personal best from one day earlier. Nine of her blocks came against All-American Tyler Henderson, the nation's leader in kills in 2010 who was forced into 15 attack errors in the match.
Browning closed her weekend with 13 kills, three blocks and .571 hitting against Northern Colorado in a sweep that clinched the Northern Colorado Classic title.
Double-Double Day
In addition to her MVC record 15 blocks vs. Tulsa on Sept. 8, sophomore Kelli Browning also recorded 11 kills for her first career double-double.
Browning then had her second career double-dip on Sept. 14 vs. Missouri State when she had 16 kills and 11 blocks. Browning had her third double-double at Kansas on Sept. 19, finishing with 15 kills and 11 blocks.
Browning finished her freshman season with 54 kills and 33 blocks in 21 matches played, but already owns 148 kills and 88 blocks after 14 matches in 2012.
Browning owns three matches this season with 10 or more blocks. The only CU player with more than that in one season is Ashley Williams (4 in 2003).
NCAA Stats Are Out
The third edition of the NCAA Volleyball statistics were released on Sept. 23rd, and Creighton is all over those figures.
Creighton is ranked third in blocks per set (3.10), 19th in winning percentage (.846), 32nd in hitting percentage (.259) and 65th in digs per set (16.19). Individually, sophomore Kelli Browning leads the country in blocks per set (1.71) and is 26th in hitting percentage (.398).
Home Sweet Home
Creighton owns a 33-15 (.688) all-time record in D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009. Seven of those 15 losses have come against ranked teams. The Jays are a perfect 5-0 in five-set matches in the building.
The Jays have been at their best in the facility during MVC play, where CU is 25-5 (.833). Northern Iowa owns three of those wins, while Missouri State can claim the other two. Against the other seven MVC rivals, Creighton is a perfect 23-0 at D.J. Sokol Arena in Valley action.
Last Saturday Creighton swept Drake. The Jays have now won 21 straight sets at home against the Bulldogs, and 11 straight home matches overall vs. DU.
Titles x 2
Creighton won the USF Invitational and the Northern Colorado Classic in non-conference play this fall. This is the second time in school history the Jays have won multiple tournaments in the same season, having also done so in 2006 in the team's last 10-2 start.
MVC Opener Histories
With its Sept. 14 win vs. Missouri State, Creighton improved to 12-7 all-time in Missouri Valley Conference openers, including seven straight wins and a 9-1 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. Only Wichita State (9) has a longer active streak of league-opening victories.
In the 11 previous seasons that Creighton has won its MVC opener, it has never finished worse than 9-9 in league play and owns a combined .636 (126-72) winning percentage in MVC action.
In the seven years in which Creighton has lost its MVC opener, the Jays have had a losing record five times and own a combined .315 (41-89) winning percentage during league contests.
Creighton is 11-7 all-time in MVC road openers, including a 8-1 record under Booth. The Jays have won seven straight MVC road openers, as many as the other nine MVC school's current streaks...combined (UNI 5, ILS 1, WSU 1).
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0
When conference play started last weekend, 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 to win their 2012 MVC opener were Creighton, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Wichita State.
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 17 of the last 18 regular-season MVC champions 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.
Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State and Indiana State have already lost MVC home matches this fall.
Triple-Double, With A Twist
Megan Bober moved into a tie for second-place on the MVC's all-time list when she earned her 10th career triple-double on Sept. 8 vs. Tulsa (34 assists, 15 digs, 11 blocks).
The match saw Bober become the first Jays player in history to have at least 10 assists and 10 blocks in any match, as Bober's previous high had been nine blocks.
Last fall Bober led the nation with nine triple-doubles, including 27 assists, 18 digs and 10 kills in a 3-2 win over Wichita State on Nov. 4th.
Besides her triple-double vs. Tulsa, Bober owns six other matches where she owned a assist-dig double-double and had between seven and nine kills.
Talented Team
Only two freshmen in the Missouri Valley Conference are averaging at least 2.15 kills and 2.15 digs per set thus far, Creighton's Melanie Jereb (2.15 kps., 2.77 dps.) and Illinois State's Ashley Rosch (2.94 kps., 2.94 dps.).
A year ago at this time, Jereb and Rosch were prep teammates at Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School, part of a team that was state runner-up and also won the 2010 and 2011 AAU Junior National Championships at the club level.
Strong Start
Creighton is off to an 12-2 start, including three wins over the MVC, two each versus the Big East and Conference USA, and one victory each over the Big Ten, Summit League, MAC, WAC and Big Sky.
Included is victories over the defending regular-season and tournament champions from Conference USA (Tulsa) and the Big Sky Conference (Northern Colorado).
Elman Over 200 Digs Already
Freshman libero Kate Elman continues her strong play in the back row, as she reached 100 career digs in just six matches to equal the quickest to that milestone in Bluejay history. Bianca Rivera had 106 digs through six contests during the 2007 campaign.
Elman currently owns 231 digs through 14 matches, good for 4.44 digs per set, and is one of three women in the MVC to have 10 or more digs in every match this season.
Elman is the only freshman in that grouping, which also includes Ashley Mason (Missouri State) and Bailey Yeager (Southern Illinois).
Elman's 14 straight matches with 10 or more digs to open her career is the second-longest such streak in Bluejay history, as Rivera had 27 straight to begin her career in 2007.
Elman went over 200 career digs in her 13th match, which is tied for second-fastest in CU history. Rivera needed just 11 matches, while Nayka Benitez also took 13 contests to get there.
Marian Pipeline
This is the 10th straight season that Creighton Volleyball has at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as freshmen Kate Elman and Ashley Jansen have joined the program.
Interestingly, the Jays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2012: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2011: Julianne Mandolfo
2010: Lisa Greisch, Julianne Mandolfo
2009: Lisa Greisch
2008: Emily Crowley, Korie Lebeda
2007: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2006: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2005: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2004: Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2003: Emily Greisch
Freshmen Serve It Up
Four of Creighton's six most common servers are freshmen, so it should come as little surprise that the Jays own 38 of their 63 aces so far from their highly-regarded freshman class consisting of Melanie Jereb, Ashley Jansen, Kate Elman and Lizzy Stivers Elman leads CU with 12 aces, while Jereb and Jansen are tied for second with nine service winners each.
Title Town Once Again
Creighton made its first trip to the state of Florida a memorable one, winning the USF Invitational with victories over UCF (3-1), USF (3-0) and Wisconsin (3-1) on Aug. 24-25.
The title was the program's first since winning the Blue Raider Bash in 2006, and school's eighth tournament title all-time.
The Jays made it two titles in three weeks with the Northern Colorado Classic crown on Sept. 7-8.
It marks the second time in CU history that the Jays have won two tournaments in the same fall, having also done so in 2006.
Honors Roll In
Creighton had three players honored for their play in the USF Invitational to open the season.
Kate Elman was named MVC Freshman of the Week after leading all MVC freshmen by averaging 5.09 digs. Elman also served up three aces and had 14 assists.
Sophomore Michelle Sicner averaged 1.91 kills and 1.45 blocks per set while hitting a healthy .386 in the three victories. She had 10 kills on .643 hitting in the Saturday win vs. USF.
Michelle Bober was named USF Invitational MVP after averaging 8.73 assists, 3.09 digs, 2.18 kills and 0.64 blocks per set while hitting .408. Bober was also named MVC Player of the Week, MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week and CVU.com National Player of the Week.
Bober Passes Century Mark
Megan Bober has started all 109 matches since the beginning of the 2009 season, helping CU to 64 wins in that span.
Bober is the sixth player in Bluejay history to make 100 or more starts, a group that includes Allie Oelke (120), Korie Lebeda (119), Jessica Houts (119), Melissa Walsh (107) and Kelly Goc (103).
Bober is tied for ninth place in CU history for matches played with Ashley Williams and JoDe Cieloha.
Bober Starts 3,500-350-350 Club
Megan Bober owns 3,649 assists, 686 kills and 351 blocks in her fine career, making her the Creighton first player with at least 3,500 assists, 350 kills and 350 blocks.
The only other player even close to Bober's totals is Korie Lebeda, who finished her career with 5,281 assists, 411 kills and 278 blocks.
Net Gain
Creighton continues to lead all MVC teams in blocking, averaging 3.10 stuffs per set. The Jays have three players averaging more than 1.00 blocks per frame (Heather Thorson, Megan Bober and Kelli Browning), the MVC's only school that can claim that. Creighton has out-blocked foes 161.0 - 82.0 thus far, and been out-blocked in just one match all season (Kansas State).
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton was 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 second and Wichita State third. Creighton is fourth and Illinois State fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Southern Illinois, Bradley, Indiana State, Evansville and Drake.
In addition, Megan Bober was named preseason all-MVC. She joins Wichita State's Emily Adney as the lone players to repeat on last year's preseason All-Valley list.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll in eight of the past nine years.
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 4th i1
2012 4th ??? ???
New Opportunity at Libero
Kate Elman has been the lone libero used by Creighton so far. She's the first freshman in school history to make her debut wearing the libero jersey.
Since the libero became legal in 2002, the Jays have used multiple liberos in a season just three times (2005, 2006, 2010), and only used 11 different players in that role (Janeen Piller, Molly Lahr, Emily Greisch, Brittany Coleman, Mallory Lahm, Katie Mehal, Sarah Schulze, Bianca Rivera, Nayka Benitez, Julianne Mandolfo, Kate Elman).
Set 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 152 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 139-13. CU is 146-17 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. In that same time span, CU is just 24-100 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 30-17 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 5-2 mark last year and a 1-1 mark this year. 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 5-2 17-14
2012 1-1 12-2
Total 45-45 263-269
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won five matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. On the other hand, Creighton is 170-1 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
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
Production Returning
Creighton returns 9-of-14 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1287 (92.6%) 103 (7.4%)
Matches Started 142 (76.3%) 44 (23.7%)
Blocks 289 (63.6%) 108 (36.4%)
Kills 987 (66.2%) 505 (33.8%)
Points 1262.0 (65.7%) 659.0 (34.3%)
Aces 86 (65.2%) 46 (34.8%)
Digs 1186 (58.8%) 830 (41.2%)
Last Year Summary
Creighton went 17-14 last season, including a 12-6 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays tied a program record with three First-Team All-MVC picks, as Megan Bober, Julianne Mandolfo and Laurel Sanford were all honored. In addition, Leah McNary and Michelle Sicner were both named to the MVC's All-Freshman Team.
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 22 matches (13 home and 9 away) this season.
The matches will air on KZOT (1180 AM) and KOIL (1290 AM) and be webcast online at 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:
2012 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Oct. 5 Northern Iowa (KZOT)
Oct. 6 Bradley (KZOT)
Oct. 12 at Illinois State (KOIL)
Oct. 20 at Drake (KOIL)
Oct. 26 Evansville (KOIL)
Oct. 27 Southern Illinois (KOIL)
Nov. 2 at Bradley (KOIL)
Nov. 3 at Northern Iowa (KZOT)
Nov. 9 Indiana State (KZOT)
Nov. 10 Illinois State (KOIL)
Nov. 16 at Wichita State (KOIL)
Nov. 17 at Missouri State (KZOT)
Nov. 22-24 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.
Sept. 28 7:00 pm Creighton at Southern Illinois Carbondale, Ill. (Davies Gym)
Sept. 29 5:00 pm Creighton at Evansville Evansville, Ind. (Meeks Family Court)
Creighton Volleyball (12-2, 3-0 MVC) hits the road in MVC play for the first time this season when it visits Southern Illinois (11-3, 2-2 MVC) and Evansville (5-11, 1-3 MVC) this weekend.
The Jays and Salukis will meet on “Pack The Gym” night at Davies Gym (1,250) in Carbondale, Ill., in a 7 pm contest on Friday.
Saturday night, Creighton plays at Evansville at 5 pm in a match that will be contested at Meeks Family Court (800).
Radio Information
Both matches this weekend will have radio.
Friday's match at Southern Illinois will air on student radio station “The Remedy”. To listen, visit http://www.widb.net/wp/remedy and click on the “Listen Live' button in the middle of the page.
The contest at Evansville can be heard in Evansville on WUEV (91.5 FM) or on-line at http://www.wuev.org
Video Information
Both matches this weekend are scheduled for live video and are NOT part of the JaysLive subscription package.
A subscription to purchase live video of Friday's match at Southern Illinois can be accessed at http://www.siusalukis.com/allaccess/. A monthly, automatically renewing, subscription costs $9.95 per month.
A subscription to purchase live video of Saturday's match at Evansville can be accessed at http://www.gopurpleaces.com/showcase/. A 24-hour pass costs $6.95.
Live Stats Information
Both contests this weekend will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats graphic at the top of the page for the exact link.
Live stats from all Creighton home events are also available on your mobile phone by clicking on www.gocreightonstats.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton (12-2, 3-0 MVC) is off to its best 14-match start in the program's modern history and is also tied atop the MVC standings with a 3-0 league record.
Creighton's has beaten five NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a year ago (Tulsa, Northern Colorado, Ball State, Wichita State, Missouri State), and its only two losses have come to Kansas State and Kansas.
Two-time First-Team All-MVC pick Megan Bober (9.46 aps., 2.77 dps., 1.77 kps., 1.02 bps., .326%) was named Tournament MVP at the USF Invitational and All-Tournament at Northern Colorado. She was the lone Bluejay to earn Preseason All-MVC accolades this fall, has started all 109 matches in a Creighton uniform, and is the team's active leader in assists, blocks, digs, kills and aces.
Creighton's leading attackers have been sophomores Leah McNary (3.19 kps., .272%) and Kelli Browning (2.85 kps., 1.69 bps., .394%). McNary owns 10 or more kills in CU's last six matches, while Browning tied an MVC record with 15 block assists vs. Tulsa (Sept. 8th) and leads the nation in blocking.
Creighton's freshman class is also making an impact, as Kate Elman (4.44 dps.), Ashley Jansen (2.57 dps.), Melanie Jereb (2.15 kps., 2.69 dps.) and Lizzy Stivers (0.20 saps.) own 38 of the team's 63 aces thus far.
As a team, Creighton averages 13.35 kills, 1.21 aces, 16.31 digs and 3.10 blocks per set while hitting .257.
The Bluejays were picked fourth in the MVC this fall.
Scouting Southern Illinois
Under the direction of new head coach Justin Ingram, Southern Illinois is off to an 11-3 start this year. The Salukis lost their opener, ripped off a record-tying 11-match win streak, and then lost last weekend at Missouri State and Wichita State to fall to 2-2 in the MVC.
The Salukis boast a potent offense featuring three of the top five attackers in the MVC in Laura Thole (3.77 kps., 2.50 dps.), Alysia Mayes (3.71 kps., .410%, 0.46 saps., 1.33 bps.) and Jessica Whitehead (3.52 kps.). Mayes is 17th nationally in hitting percentage, 25th in aces and 32nd in blocks per set.
With so many options to choose from, it's not surprising that sophomore Amy Drabant (11.74 aps.) leads the MVC and is 11th nationally in assists per set while setting the Salukis to a .256 attack percentage.
Bailey Yeager averages 5.46 digs per set as the SIU libero, a figure that ranks 17th nationally.
SIU averages 14.21 kills, 1.50 aces, 16.38 digs and 2.52 blocks per set as a team.
The Salukis were picked sixth in the MVC's preseason poll.
Scouting Evansville
Evansville is 5-11 on the season, including a 1-3 MVC mark. The Purple Aces were swept by both Wichita State and Missouri State last weekend, snapping a two-match win streak.
Ashley Ring (3.82 kps., 2.95 dps.) leads The Valley in kills per set and is UE's top offensive option. Also averaging multiple kills per set is Lauren Seyller (2.08 kps.) and Hannah Wilson (2.02 kps.).
Jenn Murphy (8.47 aps.) leads the team in assists, while Katie Klages (5.11 dps.) tops the squad in digs per set.
UE averages 11.91 kills, 0.98 aces, 15.49 digs and 2.31 blocks per set while hitting .166 as a team.
The Purple Aces were picked ninth in the preseason MVC poll.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 170-117 record in her 10th 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. She was named the 2010 CVU.com National Coach of the Year after leading Creighton to the second round during its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
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.
Justin Ingram (Iowa State, 1995) is 11-3 in his first season at Southern Illinois, and 71-36 overall in his fourth year as a head coach. Ingram was hired after a successful three-year run at Arkansas State, and was previously an assistant coach at Kansas State from 2001-08. Ingram is assisted by Todd Nelson and Natasha Marquis.
Evansville is coached by Mike Swan (Manchester College, 1979), who is 120-173 record in his 10th year with the Aces. He owns a career mark of 507-403 in 26 seasons overall. He's assisted by Dean Torgerson and Stephanie Budde.
Series History vs. Southern Illinois
Creighton is 28-9 all-time vs. Southern Illinois, including a 13-5 mark in Carbondale. CU's 28 wins against SIU are tied for its most against any opponent along with Indiana State.
The Bluejays have won 19 straight meetings against SIU, its best run against any team in program history.
Season sweeps have been the norm in this series, as 1996 remains the only time in 18 years of meeting that the schools have split the season series.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 19-0 against Southern Illinois. She has never faced Justin Ingram.
Series History vs. Evansville
Creighton is 26-11 all-time against Evansville, including an 11-7 mark in Evansville against the Purple Aces. Eleven of the 37 meetings have gone the maximum five sets.
Creighton has won 16 of the past 17 meetings, including 12 straight from 2003-08.
The team winning the first set has won each of the last 16 meetings.
Creighton has won the first set in 15 of the last 16 meetings with UE and taken the third set in the past 18 encounters.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 17-1 all-time against Evansville and Mike Swan.
Last Match Summary
Creighton clinched its best start in program history with a 3-1 win over South Dakota on Tuesday in Omaha. Sophomore Leah McNary had 20 kills while classmate Kelli Browning added 18 kills in the victory.
Another Strong MVC Start
Creighton is off to a 3-0 start in MVC play for the fifth time in program history, and fourth time since 2006. Creighton's best ever start in league play was 7-0 in 2007.
Best MVC Starts
Year W-L First MVC Loss
2007 7-0 Wichita State
2003 5-0 Missouri State
2006 5-0 Northern Iowa
2011 5-0 at Missouri State
2012 3-0 ? ? ?
New Kid On The Block
Sophomore Leah McNary has been leading Creighton in kills virtually all season long, but she got into the act with her blocking as well during Tuesday's victory over South Dakota.
McNary entered the evening with 23 blocks in 13 matches, then had a career-best seven blocks vs. USD to lead all players.
McNary led Creighton in blocks in two different matches last season, but tied for the team lead in both instances.
September Surge
Creighton is 8-2 this September, and on the verge of one of its best records for any month in school history.
With two wins this weekend, the Jays would tie a school-record for wins in a month with 10, as the 2006 team went 10-3 in September.
In addition, CU has never had two losses or less in the month of September.
Let's Hear It For The Sophomores
Creighton's sophomore class earned 41 of Creighton's 56 kills in Tuesday's win over South Dakota.
Leah McNary had 20 kills, while classmate Kelli Browning chipped in with a career-best 18 kills. In addition, Michelle Sicner had three kills in the victory.
For the season, CU's sophomores (which also includes Katie Neisler and Savannah Smith) has been responsible for 359 of the team's 694 kills (51.7 percent).
Jack Of All Trades
Watch Megan Bober play and it's obvious her importance to Creighton. The senior setter and two-time All-Valley pick leads all active Bluejay players in kills (686), assists (3649), aces (64), digs (896) and blocks (351).
Bober already ranks in the top-10 in CU history in assists and blocks, and has a solid chance to finish in the top-10 in aces and digs as well.
Nov. 9 Start Time Changed
Creighton announced on Thursday that it has changed the start time for its Nov. 9 match vs. Indiana State. The Jays and Sycamores will now begin at 5 pm Central at D.J. Sokol Arena.
The move was made to avoid going head-to-head with Creighton men's basketball's regular-season opener vs. North Texas, which begins at 7 pm at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Best Start Ever After 14
Creighton's 12-2 start is the program's best ever after 14 matches, eclipsing the 2006 team that opened 11-3.
Creighton's most wins with three losses was 13 (in 2006), while its most wins with four losses was 15 (also in 2006).
Top 10 RPI
Monday marked the third rankings from the Rich Kern Percentage Index, a ranking system developed by RichKern.com that mimics the official NCAA RPI. Thanks in part to four wins over top-53 foes (Wisconsin, Tulsa, Northern Colorado, Wichita State), the Jays are 12th in this week's RKPI. Kansas State and Kansas, the only teams to beat CU this fall, are third and eighth, respectively.
CU's schedule is ranked as the No. 17th-toughest nationally.
Southern Illinois is No. 80 in the RKPI rankings, while Evansville comes in at No. 227.
Vote For CU!
Creighton received a pair of top-25 votes in the Aug. 27 AVCA poll. This was the first time in program history the team has received such recognition in the regular-season, as its only previous votes had come following the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when it received three points in the poll.
On Sept. 10th, Creighton reached new heights when it was voted into a tie for 36th place, earning seven votes.
The rise of the Jays continued on Sept. 17th, as Creighton is up to 32nd place with a best-ever total of 34 points in the poll.
This week the Jays are in 33rd place, earning 14 votes.
Creighton also had one voter select the Jays 25th in the Sept. 3rd poll, but AVCA policy requires multiple votes in order to be listed in the “others receiving votes” category of its weekly poll.
Creighton in the AVCA Poll, All-Time
Date Votes Received Rank
12/21/10 3 36th
08/27/12 2 T-38th
09/10/12 7 T-36th
09/17/12 34 32nd
09/24/12 14 33rd
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 170-8 (.955) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 112-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 82-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 6-171 (.034) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-58 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
Freshman Digging Pipeline
Creighton had two freshmen with 20 or more digs on Sept. 19th, as both Kate Elman (21) and Melanie Jereb (20) reached that plateau at Kansas. Believe it or not, it's the first time since the program's 1994 reinstatement that two Bluejay freshmen have had 20 or more digs in the same match.
Let's Compare
Let's take a look at how Creighton's start in 2012 compares to the past two seasons, as well as the aforementioned 2006 club's first 14 matches.
Stat 2012 2011 2010 2006
W-L Thru 14 12-2 7-7 8-6 11-3
Final W-L ? 17-14 21-12 21-10
Tourney Titles 2 0 0 2
Kills/Set 13.35 12.59 13.13 16.42
Hitting % .257 .203 .197 .218
Aces/Set 1.21 1.33 1.12 1.62
Digs/Set 16.31 16.90 18.21 17.29
Blocks/Set 3.10 2.50 2.45 2.80
CLASS Act
Creighton's Megan Bober is one of 30 student-athletes who excel both on and off the court and were announced as candidates for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate volleyball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Bober has started all 109 Creighton matches in the past four seasons and joined Northern Iowa's Amy Braun as the only MVC representatives on this year's list.
Bober ranks second in league history with 10 triple-doubles, and is currently averaging 1.77 kills, 9.46 assists, 2.77 digs and 1.02 blocks per set for a Bluejay team that is 12-2. In the classroom Bober maintains a 3.83 GPA while studying exercise science and is a four-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week selection.
Jereb A Past MVC Freshman of the Week
Melanie Jereb averaged 3.22 kills, 2.44 digs and 0.89 blocks per set while hitting .338 in wins vs. Missouri State (3-2) and Wichita State (3-1) to earn her MVC Freshman of the Week award on Sept. 17th. She also handled 46 serve receptions without an error, 24 of which the Jays converted directly into a kill.
Jereb recorded her first two collegiate double-doubles in the wins, finishing with 15 kills and 10 digs vs. MSU and 14 kills and 12 digs vs. WSU. Jereb's 15 kills against Missouri State were a career-high, as were her seven blocks. She served the final three points in CU's opening set victory, and would end up the match-clinching kill in the fifth set as well. Against the Shockers, Jereb had kills on the final three points of a 25-19 set one victory. She would serve a 4-0 run that gave the Jays a 20-16 lead in the third set and help CU to a 2-1 lead in the match.
Special Six
Five of Creighton's wins this year have come against 2011 NCAA Tournament teams in Ball State, Tulsa, Northern Colorado, Missouri State and Wichita State.
The Jays are now 5-1 against NCAA Tournament teams from 2011. The only Bluejay team in modern history with more wins against NCAA Tournament clubs was the 2008 squad that was 6-8 vs. 2007 NCAA qualifiers.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 5-1
TOTAL 31-94
TOTAL Under Booth 28-59
Special Freshman
Freshman Melanie Jereb had double-doubles in wins vs. both Missouri State (15 kills, 10 digs) and Wichita State (14 kills, 12 digs) on Sept. 14-15, making her the league's only outside hitter with two double-doubles in league play.
The last Creighton freshman to open her Valley career with consecutive double-doubles was Allie Oelke in 2007, who remains the only player in CU history to be named MVC Freshman of the Year.
Air McNary
Leah McNary had a career-best 21 kills in the Sept. 15 win over Wichita State, five more than her previous high.
McNary had seven matches of 10 or more kills a year ago, and has now done it 10 times already this season.
The sophomore from Florida currently owns six straight matches of 10 or more kills for the first time in her career.
McNary's 21 kills made her the first Bluejay with 20 or more kills since Laurel Sanford had 20 on Nov. 20, 2010 vs. Southern Illinois, and were the most since Alicia Runge had 21 kills at Wichita State on Nov. 5, 2010.
McNary is also the first player since Runge in 2010 with two contests of 20 or more kills in the same season.
Hundred in Hand
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 170 wins at the helm of the Bluejays.
That's 102 more than the previous record held by Howard Wallace, who went 68-94 as head coach from 1997-2002.
Booth surpassed Wallace as the program's winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007.
Working On The Weekend
Picked fourth in the preseason MVC poll, Creighton turned heads with wins over Missouri State (picked second) and Wichita State (picked third) during the first weekend of league play.
It's just the third time ever that CU has toppled the Bears and Shockers on the same weekend, having also done so in 1997 and in 2010.
Blocking Bluejays
Creighton tied a school-record by recording 21 blocks in its Sept. 8 win over Tulsa. CU's 38 block assists matched the high previous set on Sept. 4, 2009 vs. Lipscomb, while its 21 total blocks matched the team's performance on Sept. 19, 2003 vs. Southern Illinois.
In addition, sophomore MB Kelli Browning set a CU record and tied an MVC record with 15 block assists in a single match. Browning is the fourth player in league history with 15 block assists in a single contest.
Browning Honored By MVC
Sophomore Kelli Browning was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 10 after a huge weekend in Colorado. A middle blocker from Waukesha, Wis., Browning earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Northern Colorado Classic after hitting .362 and averaging 2.80 kills, 2.60 blocks and 0.30 aces per set in wins over three NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.
Browning opened her weekend with a then-career-best eight blocks in a 3-0 win over Ball State, adding four kills an ace, and a dig.
In Saturday (Sept. 8) morning's match vs. Tulsa, Browning had 11 kills on .276 hitting while adding an ace and a dig. She also tied an MVC record with 15 block assists in a match, easily eclipsing her personal best from one day earlier. Nine of her blocks came against All-American Tyler Henderson, the nation's leader in kills in 2010 who was forced into 15 attack errors in the match.
Browning closed her weekend with 13 kills, three blocks and .571 hitting against Northern Colorado in a sweep that clinched the Northern Colorado Classic title.
Double-Double Day
In addition to her MVC record 15 blocks vs. Tulsa on Sept. 8, sophomore Kelli Browning also recorded 11 kills for her first career double-double.
Browning then had her second career double-dip on Sept. 14 vs. Missouri State when she had 16 kills and 11 blocks. Browning had her third double-double at Kansas on Sept. 19, finishing with 15 kills and 11 blocks.
Browning finished her freshman season with 54 kills and 33 blocks in 21 matches played, but already owns 148 kills and 88 blocks after 14 matches in 2012.
Browning owns three matches this season with 10 or more blocks. The only CU player with more than that in one season is Ashley Williams (4 in 2003).
NCAA Stats Are Out
The third edition of the NCAA Volleyball statistics were released on Sept. 23rd, and Creighton is all over those figures.
Creighton is ranked third in blocks per set (3.10), 19th in winning percentage (.846), 32nd in hitting percentage (.259) and 65th in digs per set (16.19). Individually, sophomore Kelli Browning leads the country in blocks per set (1.71) and is 26th in hitting percentage (.398).
Home Sweet Home
Creighton owns a 33-15 (.688) all-time record in D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009. Seven of those 15 losses have come against ranked teams. The Jays are a perfect 5-0 in five-set matches in the building.
The Jays have been at their best in the facility during MVC play, where CU is 25-5 (.833). Northern Iowa owns three of those wins, while Missouri State can claim the other two. Against the other seven MVC rivals, Creighton is a perfect 23-0 at D.J. Sokol Arena in Valley action.
Last Saturday Creighton swept Drake. The Jays have now won 21 straight sets at home against the Bulldogs, and 11 straight home matches overall vs. DU.
Titles x 2
Creighton won the USF Invitational and the Northern Colorado Classic in non-conference play this fall. This is the second time in school history the Jays have won multiple tournaments in the same season, having also done so in 2006 in the team's last 10-2 start.
MVC Opener Histories
With its Sept. 14 win vs. Missouri State, Creighton improved to 12-7 all-time in Missouri Valley Conference openers, including seven straight wins and a 9-1 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. Only Wichita State (9) has a longer active streak of league-opening victories.
In the 11 previous seasons that Creighton has won its MVC opener, it has never finished worse than 9-9 in league play and owns a combined .636 (126-72) winning percentage in MVC action.
In the seven years in which Creighton has lost its MVC opener, the Jays have had a losing record five times and own a combined .315 (41-89) winning percentage during league contests.
Creighton is 11-7 all-time in MVC road openers, including a 8-1 record under Booth. The Jays have won seven straight MVC road openers, as many as the other nine MVC school's current streaks...combined (UNI 5, ILS 1, WSU 1).
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0
When conference play started last weekend, 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 to win their 2012 MVC opener were Creighton, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Wichita State.
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 17 of the last 18 regular-season MVC champions 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.
Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State and Indiana State have already lost MVC home matches this fall.
Triple-Double, With A Twist
Megan Bober moved into a tie for second-place on the MVC's all-time list when she earned her 10th career triple-double on Sept. 8 vs. Tulsa (34 assists, 15 digs, 11 blocks).
The match saw Bober become the first Jays player in history to have at least 10 assists and 10 blocks in any match, as Bober's previous high had been nine blocks.
Last fall Bober led the nation with nine triple-doubles, including 27 assists, 18 digs and 10 kills in a 3-2 win over Wichita State on Nov. 4th.
Besides her triple-double vs. Tulsa, Bober owns six other matches where she owned a assist-dig double-double and had between seven and nine kills.
Talented Team
Only two freshmen in the Missouri Valley Conference are averaging at least 2.15 kills and 2.15 digs per set thus far, Creighton's Melanie Jereb (2.15 kps., 2.77 dps.) and Illinois State's Ashley Rosch (2.94 kps., 2.94 dps.).
A year ago at this time, Jereb and Rosch were prep teammates at Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School, part of a team that was state runner-up and also won the 2010 and 2011 AAU Junior National Championships at the club level.
Strong Start
Creighton is off to an 12-2 start, including three wins over the MVC, two each versus the Big East and Conference USA, and one victory each over the Big Ten, Summit League, MAC, WAC and Big Sky.
Included is victories over the defending regular-season and tournament champions from Conference USA (Tulsa) and the Big Sky Conference (Northern Colorado).
Elman Over 200 Digs Already
Freshman libero Kate Elman continues her strong play in the back row, as she reached 100 career digs in just six matches to equal the quickest to that milestone in Bluejay history. Bianca Rivera had 106 digs through six contests during the 2007 campaign.
Elman currently owns 231 digs through 14 matches, good for 4.44 digs per set, and is one of three women in the MVC to have 10 or more digs in every match this season.
Elman is the only freshman in that grouping, which also includes Ashley Mason (Missouri State) and Bailey Yeager (Southern Illinois).
Elman's 14 straight matches with 10 or more digs to open her career is the second-longest such streak in Bluejay history, as Rivera had 27 straight to begin her career in 2007.
Elman went over 200 career digs in her 13th match, which is tied for second-fastest in CU history. Rivera needed just 11 matches, while Nayka Benitez also took 13 contests to get there.
Marian Pipeline
This is the 10th straight season that Creighton Volleyball has at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as freshmen Kate Elman and Ashley Jansen have joined the program.
Interestingly, the Jays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2012: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2011: Julianne Mandolfo
2010: Lisa Greisch, Julianne Mandolfo
2009: Lisa Greisch
2008: Emily Crowley, Korie Lebeda
2007: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2006: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2005: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2004: Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2003: Emily Greisch
Freshmen Serve It Up
Four of Creighton's six most common servers are freshmen, so it should come as little surprise that the Jays own 38 of their 63 aces so far from their highly-regarded freshman class consisting of Melanie Jereb, Ashley Jansen, Kate Elman and Lizzy Stivers Elman leads CU with 12 aces, while Jereb and Jansen are tied for second with nine service winners each.
Title Town Once Again
Creighton made its first trip to the state of Florida a memorable one, winning the USF Invitational with victories over UCF (3-1), USF (3-0) and Wisconsin (3-1) on Aug. 24-25.
The title was the program's first since winning the Blue Raider Bash in 2006, and school's eighth tournament title all-time.
The Jays made it two titles in three weeks with the Northern Colorado Classic crown on Sept. 7-8.
It marks the second time in CU history that the Jays have won two tournaments in the same fall, having also done so in 2006.
Honors Roll In
Creighton had three players honored for their play in the USF Invitational to open the season.
Kate Elman was named MVC Freshman of the Week after leading all MVC freshmen by averaging 5.09 digs. Elman also served up three aces and had 14 assists.
Sophomore Michelle Sicner averaged 1.91 kills and 1.45 blocks per set while hitting a healthy .386 in the three victories. She had 10 kills on .643 hitting in the Saturday win vs. USF.
Michelle Bober was named USF Invitational MVP after averaging 8.73 assists, 3.09 digs, 2.18 kills and 0.64 blocks per set while hitting .408. Bober was also named MVC Player of the Week, MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week and CVU.com National Player of the Week.
Bober Passes Century Mark
Megan Bober has started all 109 matches since the beginning of the 2009 season, helping CU to 64 wins in that span.
Bober is the sixth player in Bluejay history to make 100 or more starts, a group that includes Allie Oelke (120), Korie Lebeda (119), Jessica Houts (119), Melissa Walsh (107) and Kelly Goc (103).
Bober is tied for ninth place in CU history for matches played with Ashley Williams and JoDe Cieloha.
Bober Starts 3,500-350-350 Club
Megan Bober owns 3,649 assists, 686 kills and 351 blocks in her fine career, making her the Creighton first player with at least 3,500 assists, 350 kills and 350 blocks.
The only other player even close to Bober's totals is Korie Lebeda, who finished her career with 5,281 assists, 411 kills and 278 blocks.
Net Gain
Creighton continues to lead all MVC teams in blocking, averaging 3.10 stuffs per set. The Jays have three players averaging more than 1.00 blocks per frame (Heather Thorson, Megan Bober and Kelli Browning), the MVC's only school that can claim that. Creighton has out-blocked foes 161.0 - 82.0 thus far, and been out-blocked in just one match all season (Kansas State).
Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton was 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 second and Wichita State third. Creighton is fourth and Illinois State fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Southern Illinois, Bradley, Indiana State, Evansville and Drake.
In addition, Megan Bober was named preseason all-MVC. She joins Wichita State's Emily Adney as the lone players to repeat on last year's preseason All-Valley list.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll in eight of the past nine years.
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 4th i1
2012 4th ??? ???
New Opportunity at Libero
Kate Elman has been the lone libero used by Creighton so far. She's the first freshman in school history to make her debut wearing the libero jersey.
Since the libero became legal in 2002, the Jays have used multiple liberos in a season just three times (2005, 2006, 2010), and only used 11 different players in that role (Janeen Piller, Molly Lahr, Emily Greisch, Brittany Coleman, Mallory Lahm, Katie Mehal, Sarah Schulze, Bianca Rivera, Nayka Benitez, Julianne Mandolfo, Kate Elman).
Set 1 Result = Match Result
In its last 152 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 139-13. CU is 146-17 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. In that same time span, CU is just 24-100 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 30-17 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 5-2 mark last year and a 1-1 mark this year. 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 5-2 17-14
2012 1-1 12-2
Total 45-45 263-269
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won five matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. On the other hand, Creighton is 170-1 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
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
Production Returning
Creighton returns 9-of-14 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1287 (92.6%) 103 (7.4%)
Matches Started 142 (76.3%) 44 (23.7%)
Blocks 289 (63.6%) 108 (36.4%)
Kills 987 (66.2%) 505 (33.8%)
Points 1262.0 (65.7%) 659.0 (34.3%)
Aces 86 (65.2%) 46 (34.8%)
Digs 1186 (58.8%) 830 (41.2%)
Last Year Summary
Creighton went 17-14 last season, including a 12-6 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays tied a program record with three First-Team All-MVC picks, as Megan Bober, Julianne Mandolfo and Laurel Sanford were all honored. In addition, Leah McNary and Michelle Sicner were both named to the MVC's All-Freshman Team.
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 22 matches (13 home and 9 away) this season.
The matches will air on KZOT (1180 AM) and KOIL (1290 AM) and be webcast online at 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:
2012 Volleyball Broadcast Schedule
Oct. 5 Northern Iowa (KZOT)
Oct. 6 Bradley (KZOT)
Oct. 12 at Illinois State (KOIL)
Oct. 20 at Drake (KOIL)
Oct. 26 Evansville (KOIL)
Oct. 27 Southern Illinois (KOIL)
Nov. 2 at Bradley (KOIL)
Nov. 3 at Northern Iowa (KZOT)
Nov. 9 Indiana State (KZOT)
Nov. 10 Illinois State (KOIL)
Nov. 16 at Wichita State (KOIL)
Nov. 17 at Missouri State (KZOT)
Nov. 22-24 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.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball vs Nebraska Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Nebraska Volleyball vs Creighton Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Creighton Volleyball Media Availability - 4/15/26
Wednesday, April 15
Creighton vs. Kentucky Volleyball Press Conference - 12/13/25
Sunday, December 14
