Volleyball To Tangle With Seton Hall For BIG EAST Tourney Crown
11/29/2014 2:59:00 AM | Volleyball
Today's Match - BIG EAST Volleyball Tournament Final
Nov. 29 4 pm Seton Hall vs. Creighton (FOX Sports 2) Milwaukee, Wis. (Al McGuire Center)
• Creighton meets Seton Hall for the third time this season, this time with the BIG EAST Tournament title on the line. The Pirates defeated Creighton 3-2 in South Orange on Oct. 10th, then swept the Bluejays in Omaha last Sunday. Creighton is 17-0 against all other BIG EAST teams this fall.
• Creighton enters today's match with a 24-8 record. The 24 wins are the second-most wins in one season in program history, trailing only the 29 victories by the 2012 squad.
• Creighton is playing in its fourth conference tournament final in the last five seasons. The Bluejays lost to Northern Iowa in 2010 (3-1), defeated Wichita State in 2012 (3-0) and lost to Marquette last year (3-1). All three of the previous teams to reach the tournament final would also reach the NCAA Tournament.
Seton Hall is playing in its first tournament title game since making its only two appearances in 1993 and 1994.
Neither Creighton nor Seton Hall has ever won a BIG EAST Tournament title.
• Creighton is 2-1 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament, but 0-1 in championship round action.
Creighton's .667 winning percentage at the BIG EAST Tournament is best of any team in the event's history. Seton Hall's 11-27 mark (.289) is the worst in tournament history for any team that has ever won at least one match at the event.
Creighton has never met Seton Hall in the league tournament.
• Creighton's 93 wins by its senior class are its most for any four-year span in program history.
• Today's match will be Creighton's 33rd of the season, tying a school record.
• A win on Saturday would be Creighton's first BIG EAST Tournament title in any sport. Now in their second year in the BIG EAST, the past 13 months have seen the Bluejays reach the title game in volleyball (losing to Marquette), men's basketball (Providence) and baseball (Xavier), only to come up empty each time. During Creighton's final 20 years in the Missouri Valley Conference, Creighton won 36 league tournament titles.
• Creighton is seeking its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Jays reached the NCAA's in 2010, 2012 and 2013 previously, and won a first-round match on all three occasions. Each of those four years coincide with years that Creighton also played in a league tournament final.
• Kelli Browning set a Creighton record for career block assists on Friday afternoon with four block assists. She now owns 539 in her career, passing the mark formerly held by Jessica Houts. Houts still owns the career total blocks mark of 609, though Browning is quickly closing in with 594.
• For the first time since breaking her forearm on Oct. 24 vs. Marquette, Kate Elman suited up for Creighton yesterday. Elman had a cast removed on Monday and has begun working out with the team, and the school's all-time digs leader remains a solid back-row option if needed.
• This year marks the second straight season that the No. 1 seed meets the No. 2 seed for the BIG EAST Tournament title. Last year top-seeded Marquette won on Creighton's home floor by topping the second-seeded Bluejays in the final.
• Sophomore Lauren Smith had 10 kills and hit .600 yesterday. Smith led the BIG EAST in hitting percentage during league play, and it was the ninth time this fall that Smith has hit at least .500 with five or more kills this season. Creighton is now 9-2 this year when Smith records 10 or more kills.
• Marysa Wilkinson led Creighton in kills for the first match in her career yesterday when she had 13 putaways in the win over Xavier. It was one shy of her career-high done in September vs. Wichita State.
In two matches at the Al McGuire Center this fall, Wilkinson owns 23 kills against just four errors in 53 swings, good for a .358 hitting percentage and 2.88 kills per set.
• Maggie Baumert returned to the starting setter role on Friday after appearing off the bench in CU's previous three contests. Her 40 assists were her most in a start since October 11 (at Villanova).
In two matches at the Al McGuire Center this fall, Baumert now owns 82 assists, 25 digs, 13 blocks and 12 kills in a pair of four-set victories.
Baumert enters Saturday's title tilt with 953 career assists at Creighton .
• Ashley Jansen had three aces in Friday's win over Xavier. That gives her a team-high 31 this fall, including 14 in the last eight matches. Jansen has at least one ace against every BIG EAST team this season except Seton Hall.
• Leah McNary had nine kills on .381 hitting in Friday's win over Xavier. Creighton is now 7-0 this season when she hits .300 or better and 18-1 in her career.
• Jess Bird had her team-high seventh double-double of the year in Friday's victory vs. Xavier. Five of her seven double-doubles against teams that finished in the top-four of the league standings.
• Winning the first set is always crucial in volleyball. Creighton is 19-2 when winning the first set and 5-6 when it doesn't.
Since the change to 25-point sets in 2008, teams to win the first set are 6-0 in the BIG EAST Tournament title match.
• Since the start of the 2012 season Creighton is 75-10 against unranked teams. However, in that same stretch, it is just 1-3 against unranked Seton Hall teams.
• Saturday will be the 100th neutral site match since Creighton reinstated volleyball in 1994. The Bluejays are 55-44 in the first 99 such matches, including a 4-1 mark this year and a 41-22 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
• Though it seems commonplace now, one needs to look back at the job that Kirsten Bernthal Booth has done in the dozen years at the helm of the Creighton program. When Booth arrived, Creighton was coming off a 3-23 season and had never won more than 16 matches in any season, never played in front of more than 1,000 home fans, never reached a conference tournament final, never been ranked and never made an NCAA Tournament. All of those items are now regular events.
• The NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled at 7:30 pm (CST) on Sunday night on ESPNU.
• Should Creighton not earn the BIG EAST Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament today, the Bluejays still have numerous reasons to expect an at-large bid.
Consider the following...
- Creighton would own a 24-9 record, including a 16-2 mark in the BIG EAST.
- Outright regular-season champs in the BIG EAST, the nation's No. 9 conference.
- Official NCAA RPI of 34 in latest ranking (Nov. 24).
- Own four wins vs. top-31 RPI (#24 Colorado, #26 Marquette twice, #31 Lipscomb), with two of those four wins away from home.
- Scheduled a challenging non-conference schedule featuring five teams ranked in the preseason poll, tied for most nationally with Stanford. That list didn't include current #18 Colorado, preseason league favorites Lipscomb and Wichita State or traditional power Northern Iowa.
- Team played 12 matches without first-team all-conference pick Jess Bird after knee surgery sidelined her. Team would be 17-4 with her (7-4 without her), and she missed matches against four ranked teams. Since Bird returned to the starting line-up on October 3rd, leads team in kills and is five digs shy of leading team in that category as well.
- Team will have won 12 of last 14 matches and 18 of past 21 contests, with all three losses to a 28-win Seton Hall squad that finished second in the BIG EAST and won the league tournament title
- Would be 8-4 on the road (with 3 losses to top-15 RPI teams) and 4-2 on neutral floors (losses to NCAA Tourney-bound Seton Hall & USC), with 10 non-conference matches away from home.
- Team is centrally located in the US and close to potential host sites such as Lawrence, Manhattan, Lincoln, Ames, Fort Collins, Madison and Champaign.
- Has won NCAA Tournament matches in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Nov. 29 4 pm Seton Hall vs. Creighton (FOX Sports 2) Milwaukee, Wis. (Al McGuire Center)
• Creighton meets Seton Hall for the third time this season, this time with the BIG EAST Tournament title on the line. The Pirates defeated Creighton 3-2 in South Orange on Oct. 10th, then swept the Bluejays in Omaha last Sunday. Creighton is 17-0 against all other BIG EAST teams this fall.
• Creighton enters today's match with a 24-8 record. The 24 wins are the second-most wins in one season in program history, trailing only the 29 victories by the 2012 squad.
• Creighton is playing in its fourth conference tournament final in the last five seasons. The Bluejays lost to Northern Iowa in 2010 (3-1), defeated Wichita State in 2012 (3-0) and lost to Marquette last year (3-1). All three of the previous teams to reach the tournament final would also reach the NCAA Tournament.
Seton Hall is playing in its first tournament title game since making its only two appearances in 1993 and 1994.
Neither Creighton nor Seton Hall has ever won a BIG EAST Tournament title.
• Creighton is 2-1 all-time in the BIG EAST Tournament, but 0-1 in championship round action.
Creighton's .667 winning percentage at the BIG EAST Tournament is best of any team in the event's history. Seton Hall's 11-27 mark (.289) is the worst in tournament history for any team that has ever won at least one match at the event.
Creighton has never met Seton Hall in the league tournament.
• Creighton's 93 wins by its senior class are its most for any four-year span in program history.
• Today's match will be Creighton's 33rd of the season, tying a school record.
• A win on Saturday would be Creighton's first BIG EAST Tournament title in any sport. Now in their second year in the BIG EAST, the past 13 months have seen the Bluejays reach the title game in volleyball (losing to Marquette), men's basketball (Providence) and baseball (Xavier), only to come up empty each time. During Creighton's final 20 years in the Missouri Valley Conference, Creighton won 36 league tournament titles.
• Creighton is seeking its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The Jays reached the NCAA's in 2010, 2012 and 2013 previously, and won a first-round match on all three occasions. Each of those four years coincide with years that Creighton also played in a league tournament final.
• Kelli Browning set a Creighton record for career block assists on Friday afternoon with four block assists. She now owns 539 in her career, passing the mark formerly held by Jessica Houts. Houts still owns the career total blocks mark of 609, though Browning is quickly closing in with 594.
• For the first time since breaking her forearm on Oct. 24 vs. Marquette, Kate Elman suited up for Creighton yesterday. Elman had a cast removed on Monday and has begun working out with the team, and the school's all-time digs leader remains a solid back-row option if needed.
• This year marks the second straight season that the No. 1 seed meets the No. 2 seed for the BIG EAST Tournament title. Last year top-seeded Marquette won on Creighton's home floor by topping the second-seeded Bluejays in the final.
• Sophomore Lauren Smith had 10 kills and hit .600 yesterday. Smith led the BIG EAST in hitting percentage during league play, and it was the ninth time this fall that Smith has hit at least .500 with five or more kills this season. Creighton is now 9-2 this year when Smith records 10 or more kills.
• Marysa Wilkinson led Creighton in kills for the first match in her career yesterday when she had 13 putaways in the win over Xavier. It was one shy of her career-high done in September vs. Wichita State.
In two matches at the Al McGuire Center this fall, Wilkinson owns 23 kills against just four errors in 53 swings, good for a .358 hitting percentage and 2.88 kills per set.
• Maggie Baumert returned to the starting setter role on Friday after appearing off the bench in CU's previous three contests. Her 40 assists were her most in a start since October 11 (at Villanova).
In two matches at the Al McGuire Center this fall, Baumert now owns 82 assists, 25 digs, 13 blocks and 12 kills in a pair of four-set victories.
Baumert enters Saturday's title tilt with 953 career assists at Creighton .
• Ashley Jansen had three aces in Friday's win over Xavier. That gives her a team-high 31 this fall, including 14 in the last eight matches. Jansen has at least one ace against every BIG EAST team this season except Seton Hall.
• Leah McNary had nine kills on .381 hitting in Friday's win over Xavier. Creighton is now 7-0 this season when she hits .300 or better and 18-1 in her career.
• Jess Bird had her team-high seventh double-double of the year in Friday's victory vs. Xavier. Five of her seven double-doubles against teams that finished in the top-four of the league standings.
• Winning the first set is always crucial in volleyball. Creighton is 19-2 when winning the first set and 5-6 when it doesn't.
Since the change to 25-point sets in 2008, teams to win the first set are 6-0 in the BIG EAST Tournament title match.
• Since the start of the 2012 season Creighton is 75-10 against unranked teams. However, in that same stretch, it is just 1-3 against unranked Seton Hall teams.
• Saturday will be the 100th neutral site match since Creighton reinstated volleyball in 1994. The Bluejays are 55-44 in the first 99 such matches, including a 4-1 mark this year and a 41-22 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
• Though it seems commonplace now, one needs to look back at the job that Kirsten Bernthal Booth has done in the dozen years at the helm of the Creighton program. When Booth arrived, Creighton was coming off a 3-23 season and had never won more than 16 matches in any season, never played in front of more than 1,000 home fans, never reached a conference tournament final, never been ranked and never made an NCAA Tournament. All of those items are now regular events.
• The NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled at 7:30 pm (CST) on Sunday night on ESPNU.
• Should Creighton not earn the BIG EAST Tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament today, the Bluejays still have numerous reasons to expect an at-large bid.
Consider the following...
- Creighton would own a 24-9 record, including a 16-2 mark in the BIG EAST.
- Outright regular-season champs in the BIG EAST, the nation's No. 9 conference.
- Official NCAA RPI of 34 in latest ranking (Nov. 24).
- Own four wins vs. top-31 RPI (#24 Colorado, #26 Marquette twice, #31 Lipscomb), with two of those four wins away from home.
- Scheduled a challenging non-conference schedule featuring five teams ranked in the preseason poll, tied for most nationally with Stanford. That list didn't include current #18 Colorado, preseason league favorites Lipscomb and Wichita State or traditional power Northern Iowa.
- Team played 12 matches without first-team all-conference pick Jess Bird after knee surgery sidelined her. Team would be 17-4 with her (7-4 without her), and she missed matches against four ranked teams. Since Bird returned to the starting line-up on October 3rd, leads team in kills and is five digs shy of leading team in that category as well.
- Team will have won 12 of last 14 matches and 18 of past 21 contests, with all three losses to a 28-win Seton Hall squad that finished second in the BIG EAST and won the league tournament title
- Would be 8-4 on the road (with 3 losses to top-15 RPI teams) and 4-2 on neutral floors (losses to NCAA Tourney-bound Seton Hall & USC), with 10 non-conference matches away from home.
- Team is centrally located in the US and close to potential host sites such as Lawrence, Manhattan, Lincoln, Ames, Fort Collins, Madison and Champaign.
- Has won NCAA Tournament matches in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Players Mentioned
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