Volleyball Closes First Half of BIG EAST Play at Butler/Xavier
10/13/2015 11:00:00 AM | Volleyball
This Week's Schedule
Oct. 16 5 pm CST Creighton at Butler Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)
Oct. 17 6 pm CST Creighton at Xavier Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center)
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball (13-7, 7-0 BIG EAST) looks to stay unbeaten in BIG EAST play when it puts its eight-match win streak on the line with a pair of road tests this weekend.
The trip starts on Friday in Indianapolis, Ind., when the Bluejays face Butler (5-14, 2-5 BIG EAST) at 6 pm EST (5 pm CST) inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.
On Saturday, Creighton meets Xavier (9-8, 5-2 BIG EAST) at 7 pm EST (6 pm CST) at Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Radio/Video Broadcast Information
Friday's game will not be on radio, and will be the first match all season long that has not been video webcast, either.
Saturday's match at Xavier will have a free video available at http://goxavier.com/watch.
Live Stats Information
Both matches this weekend will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats icon near the top right of the page for the exact links to each match, or visit http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton has won eight straight matches and owns a 13-7 record on the fall, which includes a 7-0 BIG EAST mark after a rigorous non-conference schedule that featured a nation-leading five top-11 foes. Despite the challenging slate, the Bluejays finished the fall placing second in three straight tournaments, and the Bluejays own a league-leading RPI of 23 thus far.
The Bluejays own wins over six NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including a sweep of then-No. 10 Kentucky and a five-set comeback win over Kansas State. Among CU's losses are setbacks against No. 8 Illinois, No. 8 USC, No. 4 Nebraska and No. 11 Wisconsin.
Jaali Winters (3.81 kps.) and Jess Bird (2.63 kps., 2.90 dps.) lead the Creighton offense on the outside, while middle blocker Lauren Smith (2.74 kps., 1.20 bps., .403%) continues to excel in the middle and earned All-Tournament Team honors during all four non-conference weekend tournaments.
Maggie Baumert (10.49 aps.) and Kenzie Crawford (9.41 aps.) have each seen time at setter this fall, while libero Kate Elman (3.93 dps.) continues to add to her Creighton-record dig total.
Creighton was a unanimous pick to win the BIG EAST, while Elman, Bird and Smith were named preseason all-league picks.
Creighton averages 13.62 kills, 1.23 aces, 15.55 digs and 2.23 blocks per set while hitting .251 as a team.
Scouting Butler
Butler is 5-14 this season, including a 2-5 mark against the BIG EAST. BU has been competitive this fall, but their overall record is hurt by a 1-6 mark in five-set matches.
The Bulldogs have lost four straight matches since sweeping Providence on Sept. 26th.
Anna Logan (2.80 kps.) and Mary Striedl (2.74 kps., .250%) have carried the offense thus far, while Briana Lilly (1.12 bps.) is the team's top blocker.
Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Makayla Ferguson has averaged 7.38 assists per set and leads the Bulldogs with 21 service aces.
As a team, Butler averages 12.28 kills, 1.03 aces, 14.05 digs and 2.38 blocks per set on .208 hitting.
Scouting Xavier
Xavier is 9-8 on the season and are third in the BIG EAST with a 5-2 league record. The Musketeers have alternated wins and losses in the past five contests, and enter Friday's match vs. Georgetown following a 3-2 win at Seton Hall on Saturday.
Abbey Bessler leads Xavier with 3.82 kills per set and is second with 3.33 digs per set, but she's not the only weapon, as Sofia Peterson (2.13 kps.), Makayla Agin (1.85 kps.) and Kristen Massa (2.83 kps.) also lend a helping hand.
Mackenzie Humm (4.99 aps.) and McKena Estes (5.18 aps.) have each seen time at setter in Xavier's 6-2 offense.
Meredith Klare (4.15 dps.) leads the team in digs.
Xavier averages 13.00 kills, 1.37 aces, 16.48 digs and 1.48 blocks per set on .205 hitting.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 248-144 record in her 13th season with the Bluejays.
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, and named the CaptainU College Coach of the Year, as well as the MVC Coach of the Year, in 2012 following another run to the second round of the NCAA's and a school-record 29 victories.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has led Creighton to its only four NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also led the Jays into the top-25 each of the previous three years, another program first.
Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
Booth was helped by associate head coach Tom Mendoza, assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Kyle South.
Sharon Clark (Sacramento State, 1989) is 259-212 in her 16th year at Butler, which moves her career mark to 361-321 in 23 seasons overall when you factor in one year at Humboldt State (1993) and six seasons at UC Davis (1994-99). The winningest volleyball coach in program history, she is assisted by Lenika Vazquez and Sofia Sanchez.
Christy Pfeffenberger (Dayton 2004) is in her first year as a head coach and owns a 9-8 record. She was named Xavier head coach on January 29, 2015, replacing Mike Johnson after he took an assistant's job at Notre Dame. Pfeffenberger was previously an assistant at Xavier, Notre Dame, Dayton and Youngstown State after being an All-American player at Dayton. She is assisted by Kelly Audia, Dave Franklin and Bekah Moore.
Series History vs. Butler
Creighton is 3-1 all-time against Butler, with a 1-1 record in Indianapolis.
Butler ruined Creighton's BIG EAST opener on Oct. 4, 2013 in Indianapolis, handing the Bluejays a four-set loss, but Creighton has won all three matches since then.
Last season in Indianapolis, Butler won the first two sets by identical 25-18 scores before Creighton reversed fortunes at intermission and won the final three sets 25-16, 25-20, 15-13.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-1 vs. Butler and head coach Sharon Clark.
Series History vs. Xavier
Creighton is 6-0 all-time against Xavier, with all the matches having occured in the last 25 months. Of the six victories, one was a sweep, four came in four sets, and one was a five-set match.
Both previous match-ups in Cincinnati have been 3-1 Bluejay victories.
Creighton's win on Oct. 5, 2013 in Cincinnati was the program's first BIG EAST win in history.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 6-0 vs. Xavier, but has never faced Christy Pfeffenberger.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton completed a 3-0 week with victories over DePaul (3-2) and Marquette (3-0) last weekend. The Bluejays lost the first two sets vs. DePaul before rebounding to win the final six sets of the weekend.
Lauren Smith hit .645 in the two victories while posting 23 kills and seven blocks. Freshmen Jaali Winters (4.50 kps., .397%) and Taryn Kloth (3.00 kps., .340%) also played a big role in support of setter Maggie Baumert (12.57 aps.).
Smith Continues Excellence
The BIG EAST doesn't give out a Player of the Month award for October, but if they did, Lauren Smith would have to be considered a leading candidate.
Smith is in the midst of a remarkable five-match stretch in which she's averaged 3.06 kills, 1.00 blocks per set while hitting an obscene .553. In those five matches -- all wins -- Smith has 55 kills in 85 swings while making just eight hitting errors. Smith has hit .500 or better in four of the five matches, with double-figures in kills three times.
Smith ranks second in the BIG EAST in blocks per set and leads the league attack percentage this year.
Win, Win Scenario
With 90 wins to date, Creighton's senior class is on track to becoming the winningest seniors in program history, as last year's seniors (spanning 2011-14) combined for 94 victories.
Individually, Melanie Jereb (88) and Ashley Jansen (87) have played in the most wins of any current seniors, and are fast approaching Leah McNary's school record of 92 wins played in.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
Wins Player Years
92 Leah McNary 2011-14
88 Melanie Jereb 2012-Pres.
87 Kelli Browning 2011-14
87 Ashley Jansen 2012-Pres.
82 Michelle Sicner 2011-14
82 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
81 Megan Bober 2009-12
81 Katie Neisler 2011-14
80 Lizzy Stivers 2012-Pres.
79 Brooke Boggs 2009-12
Hot, Hot, Hot
Creighton has won eight straight matches, which enters the week as the nation's 14th-longest active streak.
Rk. W's Team Next Match
1. 18 USC 10/16
2. 17 Kansas 10/14
3. 15 Saint Louis 10/16
4. 13 Arkansas State 10/16
13 Murray State 10/16
13 Western Kentucky 10/16
7. 11 Hawaii 10/16
11 Texas 10/17
11 Dayton 10/16
10. 10 James Madison 10/16
10 Appalachian State 10/17
12. 9 Purdue 10/16
9 Ohio 10/16
14. 8 Creighton 10/16
8 Cleveland State 10/13
8 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 10/15
8 American 10/14
8 Kentucky 10/16
8 Idaho State 10/15
Winters Makes It Three In A Row
For the third straight week, Creighton Volleyball's Jaali Winters has been named BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week. It's the fourth overall league honor for Winters this fall, all in the last five weeks.
Winters continues to shine in BIG EAST play, averaging 4.82 points, 4.27 kills, 3.09 digs, 0.55 blocks and 0.27 aces on .347 hitting as Creighton went 3-0 last week.
Winters had double-doubles in each of Creighton's first two matches. She had 11 kills, 10 digs and a season-best five blocks in Tuesday's 3-0 sweep over Georgetown. She then had 13 kills, 15 digs and two aces in a 3-2 comeback win over DePaul that marked CU's second home win ever after trailing 0-2 at intermission.
Winters closed her week with 23 kills and nine digs on career-best .541 hitting. Winters exploded for nine kills in second frame, including three in a row after Marquette knotted the score at 21-all. In the final set Winters had an extraordinary 11 kills in 12 swings as Creighton completed the sweep of the Golden Eagles, who entered the week with an RPI of 25. Winters 23 kills were tied for second-most in Creighton history for a three-set match and five more than any other BIG EAST player in a three-set match this fall.
Sunday's win was Creighton's eighth straight overall, and helped the Bluejays to their first 7-0 start in conference play ever.
Winters is the first player to earn a BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honor three straight weeks since Creighton joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 campaign.
Going For The Kill
Jaali Winters had 23 kills in Sunday's victory over Marquette, with 20 of those coming during sets two (9) and three (11).
The 23 kills are the most in the BIG EAST this season for a three-set match, well ahead of the 18 that now stands in second place.
The 23 kills by Winters ranks as tied for second-most in Creighton history for a three-set match, two behind the mark set by Leah Ratzlaff on Oct. 30, 2004.
Most Kills, Three Set Matches
25 Leah Ratzlaff at Evansville 10-30-04
23 Melissa Walsh vs. Southern Illinois 11-2-01
23 Leah Ratzlaff vs. UC-Riverside 9-2-05
23 Allie Oelke at Bradley 9-22-07
23 Jaali Winters vs. Marquette 10-11-15
21 JoDe Cieloha vs. Indiana State 11-20-97
21 Melissa Walsh at Indiana State 10-22-99
21 Melissa Walsh vs. Drake 9-22-00
21 Leah Ratzlaff vs. Liberty 9-2-05
Among The Best
In Friday's win over DePaul, Lauren Smith hit .722 in 18 swings and Marysa Wilkinson hit .667 in 18 swings.
Those two hitting percentages rank as the top two marks for a five-set match in Creighton history, topping the old mark of .560 by Kelli Browning set on Sept. 5, 2014 vs. Northern Iowa.
Smith's performance ranks sixth-best in Creighton history, while Wilkinson's is tied for ninth-best all-time.
Best Attack Percentage (Min. 12 kills), All Matches
.857 Lauren Smith (12-0-14) vs. Providence 10-19-14
.750 Katy Grady (12-0-16) vs. Auburn 8-30-03
.750 Abby Baumann (12-0-16) at San Diego St. 9-3-05
.737 Lauren Bloemke (14-0-19) vs. Evansville 11-4-07
.733 Lauren Smith (12-1-15) vs. Villanova 11-24-13
.722 Lauren Smith (14-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.714 Amanda Cvejdlik (15-0-21) vs. Drake 10-3-08
.684 Kelli Browning (14-1-19) vs. So. Illinois 10-27-12
.667 Katy Grady (12-0-18) at Drake 9-27-03
.667 Kelly Goc (14-0-21) vs. Stephen F. Austin 8-25-07
.667 Marysa Wilkinson (13-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.650 Marysa Wilkinson (14-1-20) at Providence 10-3-15
.636 Heather Thorson (14-0-22) vs. Evansville 10-22-11
Best Attack Percentage (Min. 12 kills), Five Set Matches
.722 Lauren Smith (14-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.667 Marysa Wilkinson (13-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.560 Kelli Browning (15-1-25) vs. Northern Iowa 9-5-14
.550 Melissa Weisensee (12-1-20) at Evansville 11-9-97
.545 Shelly Roder (12-0-22) at Evansville 10-4-96
BIG EAST's 1-2 Punch
When Creighton meets Xavier on Saturday night, the league's top two attackers could be meeting up.
Xavier's Abbey Bessler leads the BIG EAST with 103 kills and 5.72 kills per set in league play. The 5.72 kills far exceeds her non-conference average of 3.10 kills per set, and is even way above the 5.38 average of national kill leader Carnae Dillard of North Texas.
Creighton's Jaali Winters ranks second in the BIG EAST with 4.54 kills per set, a big jump over her 3.42 kills per set in pre-conference action.
Baumert To The Rescue
Senior setter Maggie Baumert has played in 12-of-20 matches this season, including seven starts.
While the Bluejays are 5-2 in those starts, it's what she's done as a reserve that has our attention.
Each of the last three times that Baumert has come off the bench, she's helped turn around a match that led to a Creighton victory.
She helped engineer comebacks from 0-2 deficits against both Kansas State (Sept. 20) and DePaul (Oct. 9), and also played the final two sets in CU's 3-1 win over Seton Hall (Sept. 25).
In league play this season, Baumert averages a BIG EAST-best 12.06 assists per set, well ahead of second-place Emma Pettit (10.96) from Villanova.
Baumert's 48 assists in Sunday's 3-0 win over Marquette were the most by a Bluejay in a three-set match since Korie Lebeda had 52 helpers on Nov. 4, 2007 vs. Evansville
Bird Was The Word
Creighton picked up a huge 3-2 win at Butler last season, doing so behind a monster performance from Jess Bird.
Bird had 22 kills and 23 digs on .405 hitting in the comeback victory.
The 22 kills from Bird remain a career-high, while the 23 digs are the second-most in her career.
Chasing .400
Lauren Smith enters this weekend hitting .403, good enough to lead the BIG EAST and rank 28th-best nationally.
Smith is one of seven players nationally with at least 200 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, and one of just two players to also average 1.20 blocks per set or more.
Creighton's single-season record for hitting percentage in a season is .370 by Kelli Browning in 2012. Last year Smith hit .327, which ranks fourth in program history.
Elman Aces This Test
Kate Elman leads Creighton with 15 aces this season, which gives her 88 career aces.
Elman's 88 aces rank sixth in Creighton history, and one behind Carolyn Decker for fifth in CU history.
Creighton's all-time record is 145, set by Molly Moran from 1998-2001.
Elman's high school and college teammate, Ashley Jansen, enters this weekend with 74 aces and is just outside Creighton's top-10.
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
4. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
5. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
6. Kate Elman 409 88 2012-Pr.
7. Allie Oelke 445 86 2007-10
Megan Bober 480 86 2009-12
9. Nayka Benitez 233 82 2009-10
10. Leah Ratzlaff 409 77 2002-05
Winters Having A Great Fall
Freshman Jaali Winters continues to lead Creighton in kills, and heads into Friday with 282.
On Sept. 12 vs. Pacific, Winters became the first Creighton player to ever reach 100 kills before September 15th of her freshman season, and became just the second player to need nine or fewer matches (JoDe Cieloha, 8 in 1994) to reach triple-figures.
On Sept. 27 vs. Villanova, Winters had 23 kills to reach 200 career putaways in her 15th career match. She's the first player in CU history to reach that milestone in 15 matches or less.
With 282 kills in her first 20 matches, Winters could become the first player in Creighton history to reach 300 career kills in 22 matches or fewer should she attain 18 kills this weekend.
Should she sustain her team lead, Winters would join Cieloha (1994) and Melissa Walsh (1998) as the only players to lead Creighton in kills during their first campaign with the Bluejays.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
JoDe Cieloha 8 09/23/94 at Drake
Jaali Winters 9 09/12/15 Pacific
Melissa Walsh 10 09/26/98 at Bradley
Carolyn Decker 10 09/18/04 Illinois State
Allie Oelke 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 15 09/27/15 Villanova
Melissa Walsh 16 10/16/98 at Indiana State
JoDe Cieloha 18 10/30/94 at UMKC
Allie Oelke 18 10/06/07 at So. Illinois
Shelly Kapler 22 11/09/96 at Bradley
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 23 11/08/98 at UMKC
JoDe Cieloha 26 09/02/95 vs. Green Bay
Allie Oelke 27 11/09/07 at Missouri State
Shelly Kapler 30 09/05/97 vs. UTSA
Amanda Cvejdlik 31 09/02/06 Iowa
Blue October
Creighton will play 11 matches in the month of October, more than any other October in program history.
The Bluejays are currently 5-0 this month, which improves their record to 25-3 in October since the start of the 2012 season. That includes 10 straight victories in the 10th month on the calendar dating to last fall.
Let's Get It Started
Creighton is off to a 7-0 start in league play for the first time ever. The program's best previous start had come in 2007 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference, when the Bluejays opened 6-0.
Below is a list of Creighton's best starts in conference play all-time:
Start League Year Final W-L Final Place
7-0 BIG EAST 2015 ? ?
6-0 MVC 2007 14-4 T-2nd
5-0 MVC 2006 12-6 4th
5-0 MVC 2011 12-6 4th
5-0 BIG EAST 2014 16-2 1st
Eight Is (Not) Enough
Creighton has won each of its last eight matches, a streak it will look to extend this weekend
In those eight wins, the Bluejays are just 9-7 in the first two sets of matches, but a perfect 15-0 in sets three, four and five.
This is the program's fourth win streak of eight or longer since the program's 1994 reinstatement, as seen below:
Consecutive Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By
17 Sept. 29-Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
11 Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0
8 Oct. 25-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. Northern Iowa, 3-2
8 Sept. 20, 2015-Pres. ? ? ?
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is 20-2 all-time (.909) in regular-season BIG EAST play at D.J. Sokol Arena, falling once each to St. John's (2013) and Seton Hall (2014).
Since D.J. Sokol Arena opened in 2009, Creighton is 51-7 (.879) all-time in regular-season conference matches in the facility.
Jaali Carries The Jays Against Johnnies
Jaali Winters had a career-high 28 kills on Oct. 2 in a four-set win at St. John's. The 28 kills were tied for the third-most in Creighton history for a single-match, and the most by any Bluejay since Leah Ratzlaff had 28 in a 2003 contest at Southern Illinois.
Winters is one of eight freshmen in Creighton history with 20 or more kills in a match, and one of two with four or more such contests:
Most Kills, Match
Kills Name, Opponent Date
32 Michelle Prorock vs. Evansville (4s) 11-2-96
30 Melissa Walsh at Indiana State (5s) 10-16-98
28 Melissa Walsh vs. Drake (5s) 10-10-98
28 Melissa Walsh at Drake (5s) 10-1-99
28 Melissa Walsh vs. Northern Iowa (4s) 10-27-00
28 Leah Ratzlaff at Southern Illinois (4s) 11-22-03
28 Jaali Winters at St. John's (4s) 10-2-15
Creighton Freshmen With 20+ Kills in a Match
Times Name (High) Year
4 Melissa Walsh (30) 1998
4 Jaali Winters (28) 2015
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 1994
1 Michelle Prorock (23) 1994
1 Shelly Kapler (22) 1996
1 Jodi Bjoin (21) 1999
1 Kelly Goc (20) 2004
1 Carolyn Decker (22) 2004
1 Allie Oelke (23) 2007
First Set Is Key
Creighton is 10-1 when it wins the first set this fall, compared to a 3-6 mark when it drops the opener. Creighton is 52-1 in its last 53 home matches when winning the first set, losing only to Pacific (on Sept. 12) in that span.
Friday's foe, Butler, is 4-5 when it wins the first set and 1-9 when it falls behind 0-1.
Saturday's opponent, Xavier, is 7-3 when it wins the first set and 2-5 when it loses the first frame.
Marysa's Monster Night
Marysa Wilkinson had the best offensive night of her young college career at Providence on Oct. 3rd, finishing with 14 kills on .650 hitting.
Her 14 kills tied her career-high, while her .650 hitting percentage was her best mark ever. Wilkinson exceeded that mark on Oct. 9 when she hit .667 vs. DePaul.
Wilkinson's .650 hitting percentage ranked as the 10th-best single-match performance (at the time) in Creighton history, and fifth among those players with 14 or more kills in a contest.
Creighton is 10-2 all-time when Wilkinson has 10 or more kills, and 14-0 all-time when she hits .400 or better.
In her career against the Friars, Wilkinson owns 26 kills and one attack error in 37 swings for a healthy .676 hitting percentage.
Smith & Winters Honored By BIG EAST
The Creighton Volleyball team had a pair of women honored by the BIG EAST Conference with weekly awards on Oct. 5. Lauren Smith was named the league's Player of the Week, while Jaali Winters was honored as the Freshman of the Week.
It was the first time that Smith has been named conference Player of the Week in her career, and the third time in four weeks (and second consecutive) Freshman of the Week accolade for Winters.
A middle blocker from Lincoln, Neb., Smith averaged 4.29 points, 3.71 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .524 as Creighton picked up a pair of road wins at St. John's and Providence.
Smith had 14 kills and a match-high six blocks in a 3-1 win at St. John's in which she hit .545. One night later, Smith hit .500 with 12 kills in 20 swings of a three-set sweep over Providence.
A freshman outside hitter from Ankeny, Iowa, Winters averaged 6.07 points, 5.00 kills, 1.00 digs, 0.86 blocks and 0.57 aces per set as Creighton picked up their first two road victories of the season.
Winters had a season-high 28 kills in a four-set win over St. John's on Oct. 2nd, handing the Red Storm just their second home loss of the fall. Winters had eight kills in the first set and 10 kills in the pivotal third set as CU took a 2-1 lead in the match. She also added four digs, four blocks and an ace in the win. Her 28 kills are tied for the third-most in Creighton history, and the most since 2003.
Winters then had seven kills, three aces, three digs and two blocks in a 3-0 sweep at Providence the following evening. The three aces were a season-high for the freshman, who entered that weekend with just three aces all fall.
AVCA Poll Update
Creighton earned 20 points in this week's AVCA poll, good enough to move up to a season-best 32nd place in the poll.
Creighton has been ranked inside the top-25 of the poll 11 times, all in the last four years. CU's highest rank ever was No. 19 on Sept. 7, 2013 and it last was in the top-25 in the AVCA's 2014 Preseason Poll that was announced on Aug. 11, 2014.
Winters Ices Second League Honor
Jaali Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Sept. 28th after helping the Bluejays to a pair of victories.
Winters was previously honored on Sept. 14th by the league office.
Winters opened her BIG EAST career with a pair of double-doubles in 3-1 victories over Seton Hall and Villanova. She led Creighton with 36 kills, 37 points, 4.50 kills per set, 4.69 points per set and a .321 hitting percentage.
Winters had 13 kills and 11 digs on .300 hitting in a Sept. 25 3-1 win over Seton Hall. She had at least three kills and three digs in all three sets that CU won.
On Sept. 27th, Winters had 23 kills and 11 digs while hitting .333 in a victory over Villanova. Winters had 10 kills in the first set and five more in each the third and fourth set wins, as well, including the set point clincher in both.
The 23 kills by Winters was tied for fourth-most by a Creighton freshman in program history, and she became the first player in CU history to reach 200 career kills in 15 matches or less.
Booth Is Now 104 Wins Over .500
Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns a 248-144 mark in her 13th year at Creighton. The Oct. 2 win at St. John's saw Booth go 100 wins over .500 for the first time in her career at CU.
Booth has led quite the remarkable turnaround for a program that had been 93-152 all-time since 1994 prior to her arrival.
With a pair of victories this weekend, Booth can earn her 250th career win with Creighton.
Schedule Paying Pay Off
Creighton's non-conference schedule is always tough, but this year's slate may have taken that to another level.
Unofficial RPI sites currently rank Creighton's schedule as the nation's eighth-toughest, and are a big reason that despite CU's 13-7 mark, the Bluejays own an official NCAA RPI of 23.
Against The BIG EAST
Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays enter this weekend with 38 wins against BIG EAST competition (including the BIG EAST Championship) since the start of 2013, two more than Marquette for most in the league.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 3-1 - 3-1
DePaul 5-0 - 5-0
Georgetown 5-0 - 5-0
Marquette 4-1 0-1 4-2
Providence 3-0 - 3-0
Seton Hall 2-3 1-0 3-3
St. John's 4-1 - 4-1
Villanova 5-0 - 5-0
Xavier 4-0 2-0 6-0
Total 35-6 3-1 38-7
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the third straight season, Creighton was picked to win the BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.
CU was a unanimous choice and received 81 points in the poll and all nine possible first-place votes. Marquette was picked second while Xavier, St. John's and Butler rounded out the top half of the poll.
Creighton also had three women named to the 13 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Jess Bird, Lauren Smith and Kate Elman were all honored, with Bird selected as Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll in 10 of the past 12 years, including five years where it's finished exactly where it was predicted.
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 1st #3
2013 1st T-2nd i1
2014 1st 1st - -
2015 1st ??? ???
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won seven matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including a Sept. 20 win over Kansas State that saw the Wildcats squander a 24-23 lead in the fourth set. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 248-2 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, and two other match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a 17-15 fifth set loss to St. John's.
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
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 215-8 (.964) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 158-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 104-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 11-186 (.056) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including a 2-65 mark in those home matches. The only such home comebacks came on Sept. 20 vs. Kansas State and again on Oct. 9 vs. DePaul. Those 10 comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below.
Notably, this year's team has joined the 2004 and 2014 clubs as the only one to win multiple matches in the same season when trailing 0-2 at intermission.
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
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
Winters Arrives At End Of Summer
Jaali Winters came through in a big way on Sept. 20 in CU's comeback win over Kansas State.
Winters had seven kills in both the fourth set and the fifth set, including CU's final five terminations of the 15-13 win. As if that weren't enough, Winters added three digs and two blocks in the fifth set.
Winters 25 kills were the most by any Creighton player since Alicia Runge had 26 vs. Iowa on Sept. 4, 2010, and second-most in the rally scoring era to 25 points that started in 2008.
Winters 25 kills and 59 attacks were the most by any Creighton player at D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009. The previous high for kills was 21 (by Leah McNary and Kelli Browning), while the previous high for attack attempts was 53 (by Allie Oelke).
Winters 25 kills were third-most by a Creighton freshman in history, and the most since Melissa Walsh in 1998. Walsh had matches of 30 (at Indiana State on Oct. 16, 1998) and 28 (on Oct. 10, 1998) during her standout freshman campaign.
Creighton's Gauntlet
Creighton faced five different top-11 teams (at time of the match) during its 13-match non-conference schedule.
Creighton faced then-No. 8 Illinois, No. 8 USC and No. 10 Kentucky in the first three weeks of the 2015 season, then added No. 4 Nebraska and No. 11 Wisconsin in mid-September.
Creighton, with five, was the nation's only team that played four or more top-11 teams through the first four weeks of the season, as seen below:
Most Matches vs. Top 11 Teams (Thru 9/20)
# Team Opponents
5 Creighton Illinois, USC, Kentucky, Nebraska, Wisconsin
3 USC BYU, North Carolina, Kentucky
3 Oklahoma Florida State, USC, Washington
3 Colorado Illinois, Penn State, Florida State
Nation's Largest Crowd on Sept. 15th
Creighton's crowd of 10,131 on September 15th vs. No. 4 Nebraska was the nation's largest crowd this season, 26th-largest in NCAA regular-season history and 57th-largest all-time.
Creighton is one of three schools to have hosted more than 7,000 for any match this season along with Hawaii (5x) and Nebraska (7x).
Below is a list of the nation's crowds over 8,000 this fall:
Rk. Crowd Match Date
1. 10,131 Nebraska at Creighton 9/15
2. 8,667 UCLA at Hawaii 9/6
3. 8,433 Long Beach State at Hawaii 10/11
4. 8,427 Iowa at Nebraska 9/26
5. 8,314 Michigan at Nebraska 10/10
6. 8,263 Michigan State at Nebraska 10/7
7. 8,113 UC Davis at Nebraska 9/11
8. 8,028 Tulsa at Nebraska 8/28
9. 8,021 South Florida at Nebraska 9/12
One More On Winters
Jaali Winters had 15 kills and hit .414 in the Sept. 15 match vs. Nebraska.
Per White and Blue Review writer Matt DeMarinis, Winters is just the second freshman since 2000 to have 15 or more kills and hit .400 or better against Nebraska.
The only other player to do so was Penn State's Ali Frantti, who did it twice last season en route to being named National Freshman of the Year and a Second Team All-American.
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
A crowd of 10,131 fans was on hand for the Sept. 15th tilt at CenturyLink Center Omaha. It marked the fourth time in Creighton's history that more than 5,000 fans attended a home volleyball match.
In four volleyball matches at CenturyLink Center Omaha, Creighton has now played before an average of 10,840 fans.
Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history:
Largest Home Crowds
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CenturyLink
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CenturyLink
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CenturyLink
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CenturyLink
2,514 #7 Nebraska 08/31/10 L 0-3 Sokol
Largest Crowds (All Sites)
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CenturyLink
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CenturyLink
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CenturyLink
8,627 at #5 Nebraska 09/29/02 L 0-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,060 at #9 Nebraska 09/17/14 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CenturyLink
6,297 at #6 Hawaii 09/08/00 L 0-3 Sheriff Ctr.
5,967 vs. Northwestern 09/07/00 W 3-1 Sheriff Ctr.
Jereb Up For Senior CLASS Award
Creighton Volleyball's Melanie Jereb is one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. Jereb hails from Cary, Ill., and is the program's active leader in starts (84) and second in digs (1,063).
Jereb is the only student-athlete that plays in Nebraska on the list, and also the only BIG EAST representative.
Jereb owns a 3.98 GPA while majoring in Environmental Science and Biology. She's been on the Dean's List every semester, including a 4.00 GPA last spring, and has twice been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team.
Jereb has also served more than 175 hours of community service during her first three years as a Bluejay, most on the team in that span.
On the floor, Jereb remains the only player in program history to be named first-team all-conference as a freshman, has been named to a pair of all-tournament teams, was a three-time MVC Freshman of the Week in 2012, and has twice been named to an all-tournament team in her career.
The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I volleyball coaches, national volleyball media and fans, is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Division I 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 – classroom, community, character and competition.
Jereb is trying to become the third Creighton student-athlete to win a Senior CLASS Award, joining men's soccer alum Brian Holt in the fall of 2011 and men's basketball standout Doug McDermott in 2014.
Hometown Flavor
Creighton's 2015 roster boasts nine players from the state of Nebraska, the second-most in program history.
CU's 2014 team had 10 Nebraskans on the roster, while the 2004, 2005 and now 2015 teams have each had nine homestate natives.
Service Leads To Smiles
Since starting the season with 10 aces and 28 service errors (in 209 service attempts) during the first two matches, Creighton has vastly improved its accuracy since.
Creighton has 81 aces against just 104 service errors in 1,418 attempts over the last 18 matches.
Creighton served up a season-best nine aces in its Sept. 27 victory over Villanova, including Kate Elman's career-high four.
Kentucky Win Ranks As Program's Best
Creighton's 3-0 sweep over No. 10 Kentucky on September 5 was notable for multiple reasons.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats were the highest-ranked foe that CU has ever beaten. The previous high had been No. 13 BYU on Aug. 30, 2013. The match was the 23rd in program history against a top-10 team.
The sweep over Kentucky also marked Creighton's first sweep ever over a top-25 foe in 63 all-time meetings vs. ranked teams.
Creighton improved to 4-59 all-time against top-25 opposition with the win over Kentucky. All four victories have come under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Marysa In The Middle
After a 1-4 start to the season, Creighton moved sophomore Marysa Wilkinson to the middle blocker position, and it paid immediate dividends in a 3-0 win over No. 10 Kentucky.
Wilkinson finished with six kills and tied her career-high with seven blocks in the win while hitting .214. Creighton's 11.5 blocks as a team were a season-high, and UK's .117 hitting percentage was the lowest by a Bluejay opponent all fall.
Since moving Wilkinson to the middle Creighton has gone 12-3 and averaged 2.50 blocks per set while holding teams to .183 hitting. Prior to that CU had been 1-4 with 1.50 blocks per set while teams hit .253 against it.
Jereb Reaches 1,000 Digs
Senior Melanie Jereb enters Friday's match with 1,074 career digs after she became the 13th Bluejay to reach 1,000 digs on September 12 vs. CSU Bakersfield. Her classmate Kate Elman reached the mark late in the 2013 season.
Below is a list of how long it has taken each Bluejay to reach that milestone.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 53 11/08/08 Illinois State
Julianne Mandolfo 56 10/22/11 Evansville
Kate Elman 59 11/16/13 at Seton Hall
Nayka Benitez 60 11/27/10 at Northern Iowa
Kailey Reyes 77 09/01/01 vs. UTSA
Janeen Piller 80 09/25/04 at Missouri State
Melissa Walsh 85 09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara
Allie Oelke 95 09/04/10 vs. Iowa
Melissa Weisensee 97 10/04/97 at Missouri State
Sarah Schulze 101 11/13/09 Southern Illinois
Melanie Jereb 105 09/12/15 CSU Bakersfield
Korie Lebeda 108 10/17/08 Evansville
Megan Bober 118 10/27/12 Southern Illinois
Winters Wows 'Em
Freshman OH Jaali Winters couldn't have done much better at the Illini Classic, opening her career with a team-best 41 kills.
Her 17 kills vs. Miami (Ohio) were the most in Bluejay history for a debut, three more than the previous mark set by Jess Bird in 2013.
In addition, Winters' four blocks were tied for second-most in a debut (something Kelsey O'Connell also did) and her 14 digs were tied for fourth-most in a debut (Kate Elman set that record with 22 in 2012).
Winters also became the fifth player to debut with a double-double, and joined Bird as just the second outside hitter to accomplish the feat.
Last but not least, Winters became just CU's second player with 10 or more kills in each of the team's first three matches of a season, joining JoDe Cieloha (1994) who did it in the first eight contests of CU's first year back.
Select Company
Creighton is one of just 15 schools nationally who have won 23 games or more in each of the previous three seasons. That group consists of BYU, College of Charleston, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Idaho State, LIU Brooklyn, Marquette, Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
Creighton is also one of 26 teams to have appeared in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments. That group features Arizona State, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, LIU Brooklyn, Marquette, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Washington and Yale.
Throw in three straight NCAA Tournament bids to that group of teams with three straight 23-win seasons and the group narrows to 12 teams: That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, LIU Brooklyn, Marquette, Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Washington.
Crawford Goes 3D
Kenzie Crawford made a bit of history on Aug. Aug. 29 when she turned in a triple-double (51 assists, 11 digs, 10 kills) against Louisville.
Crawford is the seventh player in Creighton history to record a triple-double, and her performance was the 30th overall in Bluejay annals.
Some more notes about Crawford's special night...
- Crawford was making just her third career start. She's the first Bluejay to ever record a triple-double within her first three career starts.
- Crawford earned her triple-double while also hitting .600. The .600 hitting was the best in Creighton history for any five-set match.
- Crawford's .600 was the second-best mark by a Bluejay in a match with a triple-double, trailing only Megan Bober's .636 hitting vs. Bradley on Oct. 6, 2012.
- Crawford had just the fifth performance in CU history of a “50-10-10” match. Kailey Reyes did it twice, while Bober and Melissa Weisensee had each done it once.
Coaching Them Up
When Kenzie Crawford earned the starting nod on Aug. 28, she became Creighton's fourth different starting setter on Opening Day in as many years.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous three seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and two of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Megan Bober was CU's Opening Day setter in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. Last season, Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb.
High Five
Creighton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Miami (Ohio) in the Aug. 28 season-opener.
The victory improved the Bluejays to 3-0 all-time in five-set matches to open the season, joining victories in 2011 (UTSA) and 2004 (New Mexico). CU trailed 2-1 after three sets in all three victories.
Creighton then made history when it also played a five-set match in the second match of the season, the first time it had ever played two straight five-setters to open a season.
Magnificent Marysa
Marysa Wilkinson had four matches during her entire freshman season with 10 or more kills, and never had two in a row.
Now a sophomore, Wilkinson opened her second season with three straight matches of double-figure putaways as she had 11 vs. Miami (Ohio), 13 vs. Louisville and 10 kills on .391 hitting in three sets at No. 8 Illinois.
Wilkinson has eight matches this fall with 10 or more kills, including 14 at Providence on Oct. 3.
Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 206-23 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 42-121 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 52-1 in its last 53 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12 to Pacific.
Last year Creighton was 20-2 when winning the first set and 5-7 when dropping the opener. This year's team is 10-1 when winning the first set but 3-6 when it falls behind after the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 42-22 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 3-1 mark this year and a 14-6 home record in five-setters. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won seven of its last eight true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, and wins last year at Butler and at St. John's.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 8-2 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
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 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 3-1 13-7
Total 57-50 341-296
Some Fab Freshmen
Creighton has started seven different true freshmen in a season opener in the previous six years, and 13 such players since 2000.
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), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013) and Jaali Winters (2015). In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as and transfer Maggie Baumert (2014) in season-openers.
Seven of those women (Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team, an award that Bird likely would've received strong consideration for if the BIG EAST had such a team.
Highly-Touted Recruiting Class
Creighton Volleyball's recruiting class was named the nation's 11th-best by PrepVolleyball.com in May.
The website annually ranks the nation's top recruiting classes, and this is the first time in the 13-year history of the rankings that Creighton has cracked the top-30. The site had previously named Taryn Kloth the nation's 18th-best prospect on its Senior Aces list, while Jaali Winters was tabbed the 41st-best.
Creighton previously had earned “highest honorable-mention” four times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2014), “high honorable-mention” twice (2010, 2012), “honorable-mention” once (2005) and “best of the rest” once (2004) in the PrepVolleyball.com recruiting rankings.
A Bunch Of Winners
Creighton has experienced a great deal of success in recent seasons, and last year's squad enjoyed victories at historic levels. Consider the following numbers:
Creighton owns 77 wins in the previous three seasons (2012-14), the winningest three-year span in program history and eight more than the mark set from 2011-13.
CU's 94 victories in the previous four seasons (2011-14) were four more than any other four-year span in program history, which was done from 2009-12. This year's senior class entered 2015 with 77 wins, and can break the record with 18 victories.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton had five non-conference matches scheduled against teams that are in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll, tied for the most in the nation.
Creighton played matches against teams that were preseason ranked No. 5 (Wisconsin), No. 5 (Nebraska), No. 8 (Illinois), No. 15 (Kentucky) and No. 22 (USC).
Besides Creighton, the only other school to play five different non-conference teams that are in the preseason top-25 is North Carolina. Of the nine teams that play four non-conference matches against preseason top-25 teams, Creighton will meet three of them (Illinois, UNI, Louisville).
Creighton is 4-61 all-time against top-25 foes, including an 0-31 mark in true road matches.
CU's Sept. 12 win over No. 10 Kentucky was the highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 15 of Creighton's 29 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 88-14 against unranked teams.
Can You Dig It?
Kate Elman already owns a school-record 1,807 career digs. Elman also owns Creighton career marks for matches with 10+ digs and matches with 20+ digs.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kate Elman 409 1,807 2012-Pr.
2. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
96 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
74 Janeen Piller 2001-04
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
36 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
32 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-11
Marian Pipeline
This is the 13th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as seniors Kate Elman and Ashley Jansen remain in the program and joined by freshman Kelsey O'Connell.
Interestingly, the Bluejays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2015: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen, Kelsey O'Connell
2014: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2013: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
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
Production Returning
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Digs 1625 (76.4%) 502 (23.6%)
Assists 1682 (74.7%) 426 (25.3%)
Aces 105 (71.9%) 41 (28.1%)
Matches Started 105 (61.8%) 65 (38.2%)
Blocks 175.5 (51.5%) 165.0 (48.5%)
Points 1192.5 (51.9%) 1105.0 (48.1%)
Kills 911 (50.3%) 900 (49.7%)
Last Year Summary
Last year's Creighton team finished 25-9 and won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.
Jess Bird and Kelli Browning were named First Team All-BIG EAST, with Browning also being named a Third-Team All-American by the AVCA. Lauren Smith was a second-team all-league choice and was named MVP of the BIG EAST Championship.
Defensively, Kate Elman led Creighton in digs and became the school's all-time leader in the category.
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin (Swanson) Russell will broadcast at least 13 home matches this season.
The matches will air on KZOT (1180 AM), KOIL (1290 AM) and KOZN (1620 AM) and be webcast online 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.
Remaining Creighton Volleyball Radio Schedule
10/23 Providence (KOZN)
10/25 St. John's (KZOT)
11/15 Butler (KZOT)
11/28 BIG EAST Championship (TBD)
11/29 BIG EAST Championship (TBD)
Oct. 16 5 pm CST Creighton at Butler Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)
Oct. 17 6 pm CST Creighton at Xavier Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center)
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball (13-7, 7-0 BIG EAST) looks to stay unbeaten in BIG EAST play when it puts its eight-match win streak on the line with a pair of road tests this weekend.
The trip starts on Friday in Indianapolis, Ind., when the Bluejays face Butler (5-14, 2-5 BIG EAST) at 6 pm EST (5 pm CST) inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.
On Saturday, Creighton meets Xavier (9-8, 5-2 BIG EAST) at 7 pm EST (6 pm CST) at Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Radio/Video Broadcast Information
Friday's game will not be on radio, and will be the first match all season long that has not been video webcast, either.
Saturday's match at Xavier will have a free video available at http://goxavier.com/watch.
Live Stats Information
Both matches this weekend will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats icon near the top right of the page for the exact links to each match, or visit http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton has won eight straight matches and owns a 13-7 record on the fall, which includes a 7-0 BIG EAST mark after a rigorous non-conference schedule that featured a nation-leading five top-11 foes. Despite the challenging slate, the Bluejays finished the fall placing second in three straight tournaments, and the Bluejays own a league-leading RPI of 23 thus far.
The Bluejays own wins over six NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including a sweep of then-No. 10 Kentucky and a five-set comeback win over Kansas State. Among CU's losses are setbacks against No. 8 Illinois, No. 8 USC, No. 4 Nebraska and No. 11 Wisconsin.
Jaali Winters (3.81 kps.) and Jess Bird (2.63 kps., 2.90 dps.) lead the Creighton offense on the outside, while middle blocker Lauren Smith (2.74 kps., 1.20 bps., .403%) continues to excel in the middle and earned All-Tournament Team honors during all four non-conference weekend tournaments.
Maggie Baumert (10.49 aps.) and Kenzie Crawford (9.41 aps.) have each seen time at setter this fall, while libero Kate Elman (3.93 dps.) continues to add to her Creighton-record dig total.
Creighton was a unanimous pick to win the BIG EAST, while Elman, Bird and Smith were named preseason all-league picks.
Creighton averages 13.62 kills, 1.23 aces, 15.55 digs and 2.23 blocks per set while hitting .251 as a team.
Scouting Butler
Butler is 5-14 this season, including a 2-5 mark against the BIG EAST. BU has been competitive this fall, but their overall record is hurt by a 1-6 mark in five-set matches.
The Bulldogs have lost four straight matches since sweeping Providence on Sept. 26th.
Anna Logan (2.80 kps.) and Mary Striedl (2.74 kps., .250%) have carried the offense thus far, while Briana Lilly (1.12 bps.) is the team's top blocker.
Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Makayla Ferguson has averaged 7.38 assists per set and leads the Bulldogs with 21 service aces.
As a team, Butler averages 12.28 kills, 1.03 aces, 14.05 digs and 2.38 blocks per set on .208 hitting.
Scouting Xavier
Xavier is 9-8 on the season and are third in the BIG EAST with a 5-2 league record. The Musketeers have alternated wins and losses in the past five contests, and enter Friday's match vs. Georgetown following a 3-2 win at Seton Hall on Saturday.
Abbey Bessler leads Xavier with 3.82 kills per set and is second with 3.33 digs per set, but she's not the only weapon, as Sofia Peterson (2.13 kps.), Makayla Agin (1.85 kps.) and Kristen Massa (2.83 kps.) also lend a helping hand.
Mackenzie Humm (4.99 aps.) and McKena Estes (5.18 aps.) have each seen time at setter in Xavier's 6-2 offense.
Meredith Klare (4.15 dps.) leads the team in digs.
Xavier averages 13.00 kills, 1.37 aces, 16.48 digs and 1.48 blocks per set on .205 hitting.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 248-144 record in her 13th season with the Bluejays.
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, and named the CaptainU College Coach of the Year, as well as the MVC Coach of the Year, in 2012 following another run to the second round of the NCAA's and a school-record 29 victories.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has led Creighton to its only four NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also led the Jays into the top-25 each of the previous three years, another program first.
Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
Booth was helped by associate head coach Tom Mendoza, assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Kyle South.
Sharon Clark (Sacramento State, 1989) is 259-212 in her 16th year at Butler, which moves her career mark to 361-321 in 23 seasons overall when you factor in one year at Humboldt State (1993) and six seasons at UC Davis (1994-99). The winningest volleyball coach in program history, she is assisted by Lenika Vazquez and Sofia Sanchez.
Christy Pfeffenberger (Dayton 2004) is in her first year as a head coach and owns a 9-8 record. She was named Xavier head coach on January 29, 2015, replacing Mike Johnson after he took an assistant's job at Notre Dame. Pfeffenberger was previously an assistant at Xavier, Notre Dame, Dayton and Youngstown State after being an All-American player at Dayton. She is assisted by Kelly Audia, Dave Franklin and Bekah Moore.
Series History vs. Butler
Creighton is 3-1 all-time against Butler, with a 1-1 record in Indianapolis.
Butler ruined Creighton's BIG EAST opener on Oct. 4, 2013 in Indianapolis, handing the Bluejays a four-set loss, but Creighton has won all three matches since then.
Last season in Indianapolis, Butler won the first two sets by identical 25-18 scores before Creighton reversed fortunes at intermission and won the final three sets 25-16, 25-20, 15-13.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 3-1 vs. Butler and head coach Sharon Clark.
Series History vs. Xavier
Creighton is 6-0 all-time against Xavier, with all the matches having occured in the last 25 months. Of the six victories, one was a sweep, four came in four sets, and one was a five-set match.
Both previous match-ups in Cincinnati have been 3-1 Bluejay victories.
Creighton's win on Oct. 5, 2013 in Cincinnati was the program's first BIG EAST win in history.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 6-0 vs. Xavier, but has never faced Christy Pfeffenberger.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton completed a 3-0 week with victories over DePaul (3-2) and Marquette (3-0) last weekend. The Bluejays lost the first two sets vs. DePaul before rebounding to win the final six sets of the weekend.
Lauren Smith hit .645 in the two victories while posting 23 kills and seven blocks. Freshmen Jaali Winters (4.50 kps., .397%) and Taryn Kloth (3.00 kps., .340%) also played a big role in support of setter Maggie Baumert (12.57 aps.).
Smith Continues Excellence
The BIG EAST doesn't give out a Player of the Month award for October, but if they did, Lauren Smith would have to be considered a leading candidate.
Smith is in the midst of a remarkable five-match stretch in which she's averaged 3.06 kills, 1.00 blocks per set while hitting an obscene .553. In those five matches -- all wins -- Smith has 55 kills in 85 swings while making just eight hitting errors. Smith has hit .500 or better in four of the five matches, with double-figures in kills three times.
Smith ranks second in the BIG EAST in blocks per set and leads the league attack percentage this year.
Win, Win Scenario
With 90 wins to date, Creighton's senior class is on track to becoming the winningest seniors in program history, as last year's seniors (spanning 2011-14) combined for 94 victories.
Individually, Melanie Jereb (88) and Ashley Jansen (87) have played in the most wins of any current seniors, and are fast approaching Leah McNary's school record of 92 wins played in.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
Wins Player Years
92 Leah McNary 2011-14
88 Melanie Jereb 2012-Pres.
87 Kelli Browning 2011-14
87 Ashley Jansen 2012-Pres.
82 Michelle Sicner 2011-14
82 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
81 Megan Bober 2009-12
81 Katie Neisler 2011-14
80 Lizzy Stivers 2012-Pres.
79 Brooke Boggs 2009-12
Hot, Hot, Hot
Creighton has won eight straight matches, which enters the week as the nation's 14th-longest active streak.
Rk. W's Team Next Match
1. 18 USC 10/16
2. 17 Kansas 10/14
3. 15 Saint Louis 10/16
4. 13 Arkansas State 10/16
13 Murray State 10/16
13 Western Kentucky 10/16
7. 11 Hawaii 10/16
11 Texas 10/17
11 Dayton 10/16
10. 10 James Madison 10/16
10 Appalachian State 10/17
12. 9 Purdue 10/16
9 Ohio 10/16
14. 8 Creighton 10/16
8 Cleveland State 10/13
8 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 10/15
8 American 10/14
8 Kentucky 10/16
8 Idaho State 10/15
Winters Makes It Three In A Row
For the third straight week, Creighton Volleyball's Jaali Winters has been named BIG EAST Conference Freshman of the Week. It's the fourth overall league honor for Winters this fall, all in the last five weeks.
Winters continues to shine in BIG EAST play, averaging 4.82 points, 4.27 kills, 3.09 digs, 0.55 blocks and 0.27 aces on .347 hitting as Creighton went 3-0 last week.
Winters had double-doubles in each of Creighton's first two matches. She had 11 kills, 10 digs and a season-best five blocks in Tuesday's 3-0 sweep over Georgetown. She then had 13 kills, 15 digs and two aces in a 3-2 comeback win over DePaul that marked CU's second home win ever after trailing 0-2 at intermission.
Winters closed her week with 23 kills and nine digs on career-best .541 hitting. Winters exploded for nine kills in second frame, including three in a row after Marquette knotted the score at 21-all. In the final set Winters had an extraordinary 11 kills in 12 swings as Creighton completed the sweep of the Golden Eagles, who entered the week with an RPI of 25. Winters 23 kills were tied for second-most in Creighton history for a three-set match and five more than any other BIG EAST player in a three-set match this fall.
Sunday's win was Creighton's eighth straight overall, and helped the Bluejays to their first 7-0 start in conference play ever.
Winters is the first player to earn a BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honor three straight weeks since Creighton joined the BIG EAST prior to the 2013 campaign.
Going For The Kill
Jaali Winters had 23 kills in Sunday's victory over Marquette, with 20 of those coming during sets two (9) and three (11).
The 23 kills are the most in the BIG EAST this season for a three-set match, well ahead of the 18 that now stands in second place.
The 23 kills by Winters ranks as tied for second-most in Creighton history for a three-set match, two behind the mark set by Leah Ratzlaff on Oct. 30, 2004.
Most Kills, Three Set Matches
25 Leah Ratzlaff at Evansville 10-30-04
23 Melissa Walsh vs. Southern Illinois 11-2-01
23 Leah Ratzlaff vs. UC-Riverside 9-2-05
23 Allie Oelke at Bradley 9-22-07
23 Jaali Winters vs. Marquette 10-11-15
21 JoDe Cieloha vs. Indiana State 11-20-97
21 Melissa Walsh at Indiana State 10-22-99
21 Melissa Walsh vs. Drake 9-22-00
21 Leah Ratzlaff vs. Liberty 9-2-05
Among The Best
In Friday's win over DePaul, Lauren Smith hit .722 in 18 swings and Marysa Wilkinson hit .667 in 18 swings.
Those two hitting percentages rank as the top two marks for a five-set match in Creighton history, topping the old mark of .560 by Kelli Browning set on Sept. 5, 2014 vs. Northern Iowa.
Smith's performance ranks sixth-best in Creighton history, while Wilkinson's is tied for ninth-best all-time.
Best Attack Percentage (Min. 12 kills), All Matches
.857 Lauren Smith (12-0-14) vs. Providence 10-19-14
.750 Katy Grady (12-0-16) vs. Auburn 8-30-03
.750 Abby Baumann (12-0-16) at San Diego St. 9-3-05
.737 Lauren Bloemke (14-0-19) vs. Evansville 11-4-07
.733 Lauren Smith (12-1-15) vs. Villanova 11-24-13
.722 Lauren Smith (14-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.714 Amanda Cvejdlik (15-0-21) vs. Drake 10-3-08
.684 Kelli Browning (14-1-19) vs. So. Illinois 10-27-12
.667 Katy Grady (12-0-18) at Drake 9-27-03
.667 Kelly Goc (14-0-21) vs. Stephen F. Austin 8-25-07
.667 Marysa Wilkinson (13-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.650 Marysa Wilkinson (14-1-20) at Providence 10-3-15
.636 Heather Thorson (14-0-22) vs. Evansville 10-22-11
Best Attack Percentage (Min. 12 kills), Five Set Matches
.722 Lauren Smith (14-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.667 Marysa Wilkinson (13-1-18) vs. DePaul 10-9-15
.560 Kelli Browning (15-1-25) vs. Northern Iowa 9-5-14
.550 Melissa Weisensee (12-1-20) at Evansville 11-9-97
.545 Shelly Roder (12-0-22) at Evansville 10-4-96
BIG EAST's 1-2 Punch
When Creighton meets Xavier on Saturday night, the league's top two attackers could be meeting up.
Xavier's Abbey Bessler leads the BIG EAST with 103 kills and 5.72 kills per set in league play. The 5.72 kills far exceeds her non-conference average of 3.10 kills per set, and is even way above the 5.38 average of national kill leader Carnae Dillard of North Texas.
Creighton's Jaali Winters ranks second in the BIG EAST with 4.54 kills per set, a big jump over her 3.42 kills per set in pre-conference action.
Baumert To The Rescue
Senior setter Maggie Baumert has played in 12-of-20 matches this season, including seven starts.
While the Bluejays are 5-2 in those starts, it's what she's done as a reserve that has our attention.
Each of the last three times that Baumert has come off the bench, she's helped turn around a match that led to a Creighton victory.
She helped engineer comebacks from 0-2 deficits against both Kansas State (Sept. 20) and DePaul (Oct. 9), and also played the final two sets in CU's 3-1 win over Seton Hall (Sept. 25).
In league play this season, Baumert averages a BIG EAST-best 12.06 assists per set, well ahead of second-place Emma Pettit (10.96) from Villanova.
Baumert's 48 assists in Sunday's 3-0 win over Marquette were the most by a Bluejay in a three-set match since Korie Lebeda had 52 helpers on Nov. 4, 2007 vs. Evansville
Bird Was The Word
Creighton picked up a huge 3-2 win at Butler last season, doing so behind a monster performance from Jess Bird.
Bird had 22 kills and 23 digs on .405 hitting in the comeback victory.
The 22 kills from Bird remain a career-high, while the 23 digs are the second-most in her career.
Chasing .400
Lauren Smith enters this weekend hitting .403, good enough to lead the BIG EAST and rank 28th-best nationally.
Smith is one of seven players nationally with at least 200 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, and one of just two players to also average 1.20 blocks per set or more.
Creighton's single-season record for hitting percentage in a season is .370 by Kelli Browning in 2012. Last year Smith hit .327, which ranks fourth in program history.
Elman Aces This Test
Kate Elman leads Creighton with 15 aces this season, which gives her 88 career aces.
Elman's 88 aces rank sixth in Creighton history, and one behind Carolyn Decker for fifth in CU history.
Creighton's all-time record is 145, set by Molly Moran from 1998-2001.
Elman's high school and college teammate, Ashley Jansen, enters this weekend with 74 aces and is just outside Creighton's top-10.
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
4. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
5. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
6. Kate Elman 409 88 2012-Pr.
7. Allie Oelke 445 86 2007-10
Megan Bober 480 86 2009-12
9. Nayka Benitez 233 82 2009-10
10. Leah Ratzlaff 409 77 2002-05
Winters Having A Great Fall
Freshman Jaali Winters continues to lead Creighton in kills, and heads into Friday with 282.
On Sept. 12 vs. Pacific, Winters became the first Creighton player to ever reach 100 kills before September 15th of her freshman season, and became just the second player to need nine or fewer matches (JoDe Cieloha, 8 in 1994) to reach triple-figures.
On Sept. 27 vs. Villanova, Winters had 23 kills to reach 200 career putaways in her 15th career match. She's the first player in CU history to reach that milestone in 15 matches or less.
With 282 kills in her first 20 matches, Winters could become the first player in Creighton history to reach 300 career kills in 22 matches or fewer should she attain 18 kills this weekend.
Should she sustain her team lead, Winters would join Cieloha (1994) and Melissa Walsh (1998) as the only players to lead Creighton in kills during their first campaign with the Bluejays.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
JoDe Cieloha 8 09/23/94 at Drake
Jaali Winters 9 09/12/15 Pacific
Melissa Walsh 10 09/26/98 at Bradley
Carolyn Decker 10 09/18/04 Illinois State
Allie Oelke 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 15 09/27/15 Villanova
Melissa Walsh 16 10/16/98 at Indiana State
JoDe Cieloha 18 10/30/94 at UMKC
Allie Oelke 18 10/06/07 at So. Illinois
Shelly Kapler 22 11/09/96 at Bradley
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 23 11/08/98 at UMKC
JoDe Cieloha 26 09/02/95 vs. Green Bay
Allie Oelke 27 11/09/07 at Missouri State
Shelly Kapler 30 09/05/97 vs. UTSA
Amanda Cvejdlik 31 09/02/06 Iowa
Blue October
Creighton will play 11 matches in the month of October, more than any other October in program history.
The Bluejays are currently 5-0 this month, which improves their record to 25-3 in October since the start of the 2012 season. That includes 10 straight victories in the 10th month on the calendar dating to last fall.
Let's Get It Started
Creighton is off to a 7-0 start in league play for the first time ever. The program's best previous start had come in 2007 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference, when the Bluejays opened 6-0.
Below is a list of Creighton's best starts in conference play all-time:
Start League Year Final W-L Final Place
7-0 BIG EAST 2015 ? ?
6-0 MVC 2007 14-4 T-2nd
5-0 MVC 2006 12-6 4th
5-0 MVC 2011 12-6 4th
5-0 BIG EAST 2014 16-2 1st
Eight Is (Not) Enough
Creighton has won each of its last eight matches, a streak it will look to extend this weekend
In those eight wins, the Bluejays are just 9-7 in the first two sets of matches, but a perfect 15-0 in sets three, four and five.
This is the program's fourth win streak of eight or longer since the program's 1994 reinstatement, as seen below:
Consecutive Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By
17 Sept. 29-Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
11 Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0
8 Oct. 25-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. Northern Iowa, 3-2
8 Sept. 20, 2015-Pres. ? ? ?
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is 20-2 all-time (.909) in regular-season BIG EAST play at D.J. Sokol Arena, falling once each to St. John's (2013) and Seton Hall (2014).
Since D.J. Sokol Arena opened in 2009, Creighton is 51-7 (.879) all-time in regular-season conference matches in the facility.
Jaali Carries The Jays Against Johnnies
Jaali Winters had a career-high 28 kills on Oct. 2 in a four-set win at St. John's. The 28 kills were tied for the third-most in Creighton history for a single-match, and the most by any Bluejay since Leah Ratzlaff had 28 in a 2003 contest at Southern Illinois.
Winters is one of eight freshmen in Creighton history with 20 or more kills in a match, and one of two with four or more such contests:
Most Kills, Match
Kills Name, Opponent Date
32 Michelle Prorock vs. Evansville (4s) 11-2-96
30 Melissa Walsh at Indiana State (5s) 10-16-98
28 Melissa Walsh vs. Drake (5s) 10-10-98
28 Melissa Walsh at Drake (5s) 10-1-99
28 Melissa Walsh vs. Northern Iowa (4s) 10-27-00
28 Leah Ratzlaff at Southern Illinois (4s) 11-22-03
28 Jaali Winters at St. John's (4s) 10-2-15
Creighton Freshmen With 20+ Kills in a Match
Times Name (High) Year
4 Melissa Walsh (30) 1998
4 Jaali Winters (28) 2015
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 1994
1 Michelle Prorock (23) 1994
1 Shelly Kapler (22) 1996
1 Jodi Bjoin (21) 1999
1 Kelly Goc (20) 2004
1 Carolyn Decker (22) 2004
1 Allie Oelke (23) 2007
First Set Is Key
Creighton is 10-1 when it wins the first set this fall, compared to a 3-6 mark when it drops the opener. Creighton is 52-1 in its last 53 home matches when winning the first set, losing only to Pacific (on Sept. 12) in that span.
Friday's foe, Butler, is 4-5 when it wins the first set and 1-9 when it falls behind 0-1.
Saturday's opponent, Xavier, is 7-3 when it wins the first set and 2-5 when it loses the first frame.
Marysa's Monster Night
Marysa Wilkinson had the best offensive night of her young college career at Providence on Oct. 3rd, finishing with 14 kills on .650 hitting.
Her 14 kills tied her career-high, while her .650 hitting percentage was her best mark ever. Wilkinson exceeded that mark on Oct. 9 when she hit .667 vs. DePaul.
Wilkinson's .650 hitting percentage ranked as the 10th-best single-match performance (at the time) in Creighton history, and fifth among those players with 14 or more kills in a contest.
Creighton is 10-2 all-time when Wilkinson has 10 or more kills, and 14-0 all-time when she hits .400 or better.
In her career against the Friars, Wilkinson owns 26 kills and one attack error in 37 swings for a healthy .676 hitting percentage.
Smith & Winters Honored By BIG EAST
The Creighton Volleyball team had a pair of women honored by the BIG EAST Conference with weekly awards on Oct. 5. Lauren Smith was named the league's Player of the Week, while Jaali Winters was honored as the Freshman of the Week.
It was the first time that Smith has been named conference Player of the Week in her career, and the third time in four weeks (and second consecutive) Freshman of the Week accolade for Winters.
A middle blocker from Lincoln, Neb., Smith averaged 4.29 points, 3.71 kills and 1.00 blocks per set while hitting .524 as Creighton picked up a pair of road wins at St. John's and Providence.
Smith had 14 kills and a match-high six blocks in a 3-1 win at St. John's in which she hit .545. One night later, Smith hit .500 with 12 kills in 20 swings of a three-set sweep over Providence.
A freshman outside hitter from Ankeny, Iowa, Winters averaged 6.07 points, 5.00 kills, 1.00 digs, 0.86 blocks and 0.57 aces per set as Creighton picked up their first two road victories of the season.
Winters had a season-high 28 kills in a four-set win over St. John's on Oct. 2nd, handing the Red Storm just their second home loss of the fall. Winters had eight kills in the first set and 10 kills in the pivotal third set as CU took a 2-1 lead in the match. She also added four digs, four blocks and an ace in the win. Her 28 kills are tied for the third-most in Creighton history, and the most since 2003.
Winters then had seven kills, three aces, three digs and two blocks in a 3-0 sweep at Providence the following evening. The three aces were a season-high for the freshman, who entered that weekend with just three aces all fall.
AVCA Poll Update
Creighton earned 20 points in this week's AVCA poll, good enough to move up to a season-best 32nd place in the poll.
Creighton has been ranked inside the top-25 of the poll 11 times, all in the last four years. CU's highest rank ever was No. 19 on Sept. 7, 2013 and it last was in the top-25 in the AVCA's 2014 Preseason Poll that was announced on Aug. 11, 2014.
Winters Ices Second League Honor
Jaali Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Sept. 28th after helping the Bluejays to a pair of victories.
Winters was previously honored on Sept. 14th by the league office.
Winters opened her BIG EAST career with a pair of double-doubles in 3-1 victories over Seton Hall and Villanova. She led Creighton with 36 kills, 37 points, 4.50 kills per set, 4.69 points per set and a .321 hitting percentage.
Winters had 13 kills and 11 digs on .300 hitting in a Sept. 25 3-1 win over Seton Hall. She had at least three kills and three digs in all three sets that CU won.
On Sept. 27th, Winters had 23 kills and 11 digs while hitting .333 in a victory over Villanova. Winters had 10 kills in the first set and five more in each the third and fourth set wins, as well, including the set point clincher in both.
The 23 kills by Winters was tied for fourth-most by a Creighton freshman in program history, and she became the first player in CU history to reach 200 career kills in 15 matches or less.
Booth Is Now 104 Wins Over .500
Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns a 248-144 mark in her 13th year at Creighton. The Oct. 2 win at St. John's saw Booth go 100 wins over .500 for the first time in her career at CU.
Booth has led quite the remarkable turnaround for a program that had been 93-152 all-time since 1994 prior to her arrival.
With a pair of victories this weekend, Booth can earn her 250th career win with Creighton.
Schedule Paying Pay Off
Creighton's non-conference schedule is always tough, but this year's slate may have taken that to another level.
Unofficial RPI sites currently rank Creighton's schedule as the nation's eighth-toughest, and are a big reason that despite CU's 13-7 mark, the Bluejays own an official NCAA RPI of 23.
Against The BIG EAST
Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays enter this weekend with 38 wins against BIG EAST competition (including the BIG EAST Championship) since the start of 2013, two more than Marquette for most in the league.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 3-1 - 3-1
DePaul 5-0 - 5-0
Georgetown 5-0 - 5-0
Marquette 4-1 0-1 4-2
Providence 3-0 - 3-0
Seton Hall 2-3 1-0 3-3
St. John's 4-1 - 4-1
Villanova 5-0 - 5-0
Xavier 4-0 2-0 6-0
Total 35-6 3-1 38-7
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the third straight season, Creighton was picked to win the BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.
CU was a unanimous choice and received 81 points in the poll and all nine possible first-place votes. Marquette was picked second while Xavier, St. John's and Butler rounded out the top half of the poll.
Creighton also had three women named to the 13 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Jess Bird, Lauren Smith and Kate Elman were all honored, with Bird selected as Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll in 10 of the past 12 years, including five years where it's finished exactly where it was predicted.
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 1st #3
2013 1st T-2nd i1
2014 1st 1st - -
2015 1st ??? ???
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won seven matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including a Sept. 20 win over Kansas State that saw the Wildcats squander a 24-23 lead in the fourth set. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 248-2 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, and two other match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a 17-15 fifth set loss to St. John's.
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
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 215-8 (.964) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 158-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 104-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 11-186 (.056) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including a 2-65 mark in those home matches. The only such home comebacks came on Sept. 20 vs. Kansas State and again on Oct. 9 vs. DePaul. Those 10 comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below.
Notably, this year's team has joined the 2004 and 2014 clubs as the only one to win multiple matches in the same season when trailing 0-2 at intermission.
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
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
Winters Arrives At End Of Summer
Jaali Winters came through in a big way on Sept. 20 in CU's comeback win over Kansas State.
Winters had seven kills in both the fourth set and the fifth set, including CU's final five terminations of the 15-13 win. As if that weren't enough, Winters added three digs and two blocks in the fifth set.
Winters 25 kills were the most by any Creighton player since Alicia Runge had 26 vs. Iowa on Sept. 4, 2010, and second-most in the rally scoring era to 25 points that started in 2008.
Winters 25 kills and 59 attacks were the most by any Creighton player at D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009. The previous high for kills was 21 (by Leah McNary and Kelli Browning), while the previous high for attack attempts was 53 (by Allie Oelke).
Winters 25 kills were third-most by a Creighton freshman in history, and the most since Melissa Walsh in 1998. Walsh had matches of 30 (at Indiana State on Oct. 16, 1998) and 28 (on Oct. 10, 1998) during her standout freshman campaign.
Creighton's Gauntlet
Creighton faced five different top-11 teams (at time of the match) during its 13-match non-conference schedule.
Creighton faced then-No. 8 Illinois, No. 8 USC and No. 10 Kentucky in the first three weeks of the 2015 season, then added No. 4 Nebraska and No. 11 Wisconsin in mid-September.
Creighton, with five, was the nation's only team that played four or more top-11 teams through the first four weeks of the season, as seen below:
Most Matches vs. Top 11 Teams (Thru 9/20)
# Team Opponents
5 Creighton Illinois, USC, Kentucky, Nebraska, Wisconsin
3 USC BYU, North Carolina, Kentucky
3 Oklahoma Florida State, USC, Washington
3 Colorado Illinois, Penn State, Florida State
Nation's Largest Crowd on Sept. 15th
Creighton's crowd of 10,131 on September 15th vs. No. 4 Nebraska was the nation's largest crowd this season, 26th-largest in NCAA regular-season history and 57th-largest all-time.
Creighton is one of three schools to have hosted more than 7,000 for any match this season along with Hawaii (5x) and Nebraska (7x).
Below is a list of the nation's crowds over 8,000 this fall:
Rk. Crowd Match Date
1. 10,131 Nebraska at Creighton 9/15
2. 8,667 UCLA at Hawaii 9/6
3. 8,433 Long Beach State at Hawaii 10/11
4. 8,427 Iowa at Nebraska 9/26
5. 8,314 Michigan at Nebraska 10/10
6. 8,263 Michigan State at Nebraska 10/7
7. 8,113 UC Davis at Nebraska 9/11
8. 8,028 Tulsa at Nebraska 8/28
9. 8,021 South Florida at Nebraska 9/12
One More On Winters
Jaali Winters had 15 kills and hit .414 in the Sept. 15 match vs. Nebraska.
Per White and Blue Review writer Matt DeMarinis, Winters is just the second freshman since 2000 to have 15 or more kills and hit .400 or better against Nebraska.
The only other player to do so was Penn State's Ali Frantti, who did it twice last season en route to being named National Freshman of the Year and a Second Team All-American.
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
A crowd of 10,131 fans was on hand for the Sept. 15th tilt at CenturyLink Center Omaha. It marked the fourth time in Creighton's history that more than 5,000 fans attended a home volleyball match.
In four volleyball matches at CenturyLink Center Omaha, Creighton has now played before an average of 10,840 fans.
Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history:
Largest Home Crowds
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CenturyLink
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CenturyLink
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CenturyLink
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CenturyLink
2,514 #7 Nebraska 08/31/10 L 0-3 Sokol
Largest Crowds (All Sites)
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CenturyLink
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CenturyLink
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CenturyLink
8,627 at #5 Nebraska 09/29/02 L 0-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,060 at #9 Nebraska 09/17/14 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CenturyLink
6,297 at #6 Hawaii 09/08/00 L 0-3 Sheriff Ctr.
5,967 vs. Northwestern 09/07/00 W 3-1 Sheriff Ctr.
Jereb Up For Senior CLASS Award
Creighton Volleyball's Melanie Jereb is one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. Jereb hails from Cary, Ill., and is the program's active leader in starts (84) and second in digs (1,063).
Jereb is the only student-athlete that plays in Nebraska on the list, and also the only BIG EAST representative.
Jereb owns a 3.98 GPA while majoring in Environmental Science and Biology. She's been on the Dean's List every semester, including a 4.00 GPA last spring, and has twice been named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team.
Jereb has also served more than 175 hours of community service during her first three years as a Bluejay, most on the team in that span.
On the floor, Jereb remains the only player in program history to be named first-team all-conference as a freshman, has been named to a pair of all-tournament teams, was a three-time MVC Freshman of the Week in 2012, and has twice been named to an all-tournament team in her career.
The award, chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I volleyball coaches, national volleyball media and fans, is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Division I 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 – classroom, community, character and competition.
Jereb is trying to become the third Creighton student-athlete to win a Senior CLASS Award, joining men's soccer alum Brian Holt in the fall of 2011 and men's basketball standout Doug McDermott in 2014.
Hometown Flavor
Creighton's 2015 roster boasts nine players from the state of Nebraska, the second-most in program history.
CU's 2014 team had 10 Nebraskans on the roster, while the 2004, 2005 and now 2015 teams have each had nine homestate natives.
Service Leads To Smiles
Since starting the season with 10 aces and 28 service errors (in 209 service attempts) during the first two matches, Creighton has vastly improved its accuracy since.
Creighton has 81 aces against just 104 service errors in 1,418 attempts over the last 18 matches.
Creighton served up a season-best nine aces in its Sept. 27 victory over Villanova, including Kate Elman's career-high four.
Kentucky Win Ranks As Program's Best
Creighton's 3-0 sweep over No. 10 Kentucky on September 5 was notable for multiple reasons.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats were the highest-ranked foe that CU has ever beaten. The previous high had been No. 13 BYU on Aug. 30, 2013. The match was the 23rd in program history against a top-10 team.
The sweep over Kentucky also marked Creighton's first sweep ever over a top-25 foe in 63 all-time meetings vs. ranked teams.
Creighton improved to 4-59 all-time against top-25 opposition with the win over Kentucky. All four victories have come under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Marysa In The Middle
After a 1-4 start to the season, Creighton moved sophomore Marysa Wilkinson to the middle blocker position, and it paid immediate dividends in a 3-0 win over No. 10 Kentucky.
Wilkinson finished with six kills and tied her career-high with seven blocks in the win while hitting .214. Creighton's 11.5 blocks as a team were a season-high, and UK's .117 hitting percentage was the lowest by a Bluejay opponent all fall.
Since moving Wilkinson to the middle Creighton has gone 12-3 and averaged 2.50 blocks per set while holding teams to .183 hitting. Prior to that CU had been 1-4 with 1.50 blocks per set while teams hit .253 against it.
Jereb Reaches 1,000 Digs
Senior Melanie Jereb enters Friday's match with 1,074 career digs after she became the 13th Bluejay to reach 1,000 digs on September 12 vs. CSU Bakersfield. Her classmate Kate Elman reached the mark late in the 2013 season.
Below is a list of how long it has taken each Bluejay to reach that milestone.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 53 11/08/08 Illinois State
Julianne Mandolfo 56 10/22/11 Evansville
Kate Elman 59 11/16/13 at Seton Hall
Nayka Benitez 60 11/27/10 at Northern Iowa
Kailey Reyes 77 09/01/01 vs. UTSA
Janeen Piller 80 09/25/04 at Missouri State
Melissa Walsh 85 09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara
Allie Oelke 95 09/04/10 vs. Iowa
Melissa Weisensee 97 10/04/97 at Missouri State
Sarah Schulze 101 11/13/09 Southern Illinois
Melanie Jereb 105 09/12/15 CSU Bakersfield
Korie Lebeda 108 10/17/08 Evansville
Megan Bober 118 10/27/12 Southern Illinois
Winters Wows 'Em
Freshman OH Jaali Winters couldn't have done much better at the Illini Classic, opening her career with a team-best 41 kills.
Her 17 kills vs. Miami (Ohio) were the most in Bluejay history for a debut, three more than the previous mark set by Jess Bird in 2013.
In addition, Winters' four blocks were tied for second-most in a debut (something Kelsey O'Connell also did) and her 14 digs were tied for fourth-most in a debut (Kate Elman set that record with 22 in 2012).
Winters also became the fifth player to debut with a double-double, and joined Bird as just the second outside hitter to accomplish the feat.
Last but not least, Winters became just CU's second player with 10 or more kills in each of the team's first three matches of a season, joining JoDe Cieloha (1994) who did it in the first eight contests of CU's first year back.
Select Company
Creighton is one of just 15 schools nationally who have won 23 games or more in each of the previous three seasons. That group consists of BYU, College of Charleston, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Idaho State, LIU Brooklyn, Marquette, Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
Creighton is also one of 26 teams to have appeared in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments. That group features Arizona State, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, LIU Brooklyn, Marquette, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Washington and Yale.
Throw in three straight NCAA Tournament bids to that group of teams with three straight 23-win seasons and the group narrows to 12 teams: That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, LIU Brooklyn, Marquette, Nebraska, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Washington.
Crawford Goes 3D
Kenzie Crawford made a bit of history on Aug. Aug. 29 when she turned in a triple-double (51 assists, 11 digs, 10 kills) against Louisville.
Crawford is the seventh player in Creighton history to record a triple-double, and her performance was the 30th overall in Bluejay annals.
Some more notes about Crawford's special night...
- Crawford was making just her third career start. She's the first Bluejay to ever record a triple-double within her first three career starts.
- Crawford earned her triple-double while also hitting .600. The .600 hitting was the best in Creighton history for any five-set match.
- Crawford's .600 was the second-best mark by a Bluejay in a match with a triple-double, trailing only Megan Bober's .636 hitting vs. Bradley on Oct. 6, 2012.
- Crawford had just the fifth performance in CU history of a “50-10-10” match. Kailey Reyes did it twice, while Bober and Melissa Weisensee had each done it once.
Coaching Them Up
When Kenzie Crawford earned the starting nod on Aug. 28, she became Creighton's fourth different starting setter on Opening Day in as many years.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous three seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and two of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Megan Bober was CU's Opening Day setter in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. Last season, Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb.
High Five
Creighton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Miami (Ohio) in the Aug. 28 season-opener.
The victory improved the Bluejays to 3-0 all-time in five-set matches to open the season, joining victories in 2011 (UTSA) and 2004 (New Mexico). CU trailed 2-1 after three sets in all three victories.
Creighton then made history when it also played a five-set match in the second match of the season, the first time it had ever played two straight five-setters to open a season.
Magnificent Marysa
Marysa Wilkinson had four matches during her entire freshman season with 10 or more kills, and never had two in a row.
Now a sophomore, Wilkinson opened her second season with three straight matches of double-figure putaways as she had 11 vs. Miami (Ohio), 13 vs. Louisville and 10 kills on .391 hitting in three sets at No. 8 Illinois.
Wilkinson has eight matches this fall with 10 or more kills, including 14 at Providence on Oct. 3.
Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 206-23 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 42-121 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 52-1 in its last 53 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12 to Pacific.
Last year Creighton was 20-2 when winning the first set and 5-7 when dropping the opener. This year's team is 10-1 when winning the first set but 3-6 when it falls behind after the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 42-22 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 3-1 mark this year and a 14-6 home record in five-setters. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won seven of its last eight true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, and wins last year at Butler and at St. John's.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 8-2 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
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 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 3-1 13-7
Total 57-50 341-296
Some Fab Freshmen
Creighton has started seven different true freshmen in a season opener in the previous six years, and 13 such players since 2000.
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), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013) and Jaali Winters (2015). In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as and transfer Maggie Baumert (2014) in season-openers.
Seven of those women (Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team, an award that Bird likely would've received strong consideration for if the BIG EAST had such a team.
Highly-Touted Recruiting Class
Creighton Volleyball's recruiting class was named the nation's 11th-best by PrepVolleyball.com in May.
The website annually ranks the nation's top recruiting classes, and this is the first time in the 13-year history of the rankings that Creighton has cracked the top-30. The site had previously named Taryn Kloth the nation's 18th-best prospect on its Senior Aces list, while Jaali Winters was tabbed the 41st-best.
Creighton previously had earned “highest honorable-mention” four times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2014), “high honorable-mention” twice (2010, 2012), “honorable-mention” once (2005) and “best of the rest” once (2004) in the PrepVolleyball.com recruiting rankings.
A Bunch Of Winners
Creighton has experienced a great deal of success in recent seasons, and last year's squad enjoyed victories at historic levels. Consider the following numbers:
Creighton owns 77 wins in the previous three seasons (2012-14), the winningest three-year span in program history and eight more than the mark set from 2011-13.
CU's 94 victories in the previous four seasons (2011-14) were four more than any other four-year span in program history, which was done from 2009-12. This year's senior class entered 2015 with 77 wins, and can break the record with 18 victories.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton had five non-conference matches scheduled against teams that are in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll, tied for the most in the nation.
Creighton played matches against teams that were preseason ranked No. 5 (Wisconsin), No. 5 (Nebraska), No. 8 (Illinois), No. 15 (Kentucky) and No. 22 (USC).
Besides Creighton, the only other school to play five different non-conference teams that are in the preseason top-25 is North Carolina. Of the nine teams that play four non-conference matches against preseason top-25 teams, Creighton will meet three of them (Illinois, UNI, Louisville).
Creighton is 4-61 all-time against top-25 foes, including an 0-31 mark in true road matches.
CU's Sept. 12 win over No. 10 Kentucky was the highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 15 of Creighton's 29 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 88-14 against unranked teams.
Can You Dig It?
Kate Elman already owns a school-record 1,807 career digs. Elman also owns Creighton career marks for matches with 10+ digs and matches with 20+ digs.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kate Elman 409 1,807 2012-Pr.
2. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
96 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
74 Janeen Piller 2001-04
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
36 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
32 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-11
Marian Pipeline
This is the 13th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as seniors Kate Elman and Ashley Jansen remain in the program and joined by freshman Kelsey O'Connell.
Interestingly, the Bluejays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2015: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen, Kelsey O'Connell
2014: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2013: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
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
Production Returning
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns:
Stat Returners Departures
Digs 1625 (76.4%) 502 (23.6%)
Assists 1682 (74.7%) 426 (25.3%)
Aces 105 (71.9%) 41 (28.1%)
Matches Started 105 (61.8%) 65 (38.2%)
Blocks 175.5 (51.5%) 165.0 (48.5%)
Points 1192.5 (51.9%) 1105.0 (48.1%)
Kills 911 (50.3%) 900 (49.7%)
Last Year Summary
Last year's Creighton team finished 25-9 and won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.
Jess Bird and Kelli Browning were named First Team All-BIG EAST, with Browning also being named a Third-Team All-American by the AVCA. Lauren Smith was a second-team all-league choice and was named MVP of the BIG EAST Championship.
Defensively, Kate Elman led Creighton in digs and became the school's all-time leader in the category.
Radio Broadcast Information
Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin (Swanson) Russell will broadcast at least 13 home matches this season.
The matches will air on KZOT (1180 AM), KOIL (1290 AM) and KOZN (1620 AM) and be webcast online 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.
Remaining Creighton Volleyball Radio Schedule
10/23 Providence (KOZN)
10/25 St. John's (KZOT)
11/15 Butler (KZOT)
11/28 BIG EAST Championship (TBD)
11/29 BIG EAST Championship (TBD)
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/ Volleyball#18 Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. #4 Louisville - 9/12/25
Saturday, September 13
Creighton Volleyball Press Conference vs. Louisville
Saturday, September 13
Creighton Volleyball Unveils New Taraflex Court - 9/10/25
Wednesday, September 10
Creighton Volleyball Media Availability September 9
Tuesday, September 09
