Volleyball Hosts Villanova in Saturday's 1 pm BIG EAST Tourney Final

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Creighton Volleyball Notes
BIG EAST Championship Match
Nov. 28 1:00 pm #2 Xavier at #1 Creighton (FS2) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

- Top-seeded Creighton (24-8) meets second-seeded Villanova (25-7) on Saturday at 1 pm Central in the title match of the 2015 BIG EAST Volleyball Championship. The match will be held in Omaha, Neb., at D.J. Sokol Arena.

- Saturday's match will be televised by FS2 (channel 216 in Omaha on Cox Cable, or 1216 in HD), with Bob Brainerd and Michelle Griffin Wenzel on the call. The game will also be available on FoxSportsGo.com, though a cable authorization may be required.
   Live stats for the match can be found at http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.

- Creighton is playing in its fourth consecutive conference tournament title game, and fifth in six years. The Bluejays lost in four sets in the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference title game, swept Wichita State in the 2012 MVC Tourney final, lost to Marquette in four sets in the 2013 BIG EAST title game, and downed Seton Hall in four sets in the 2014 BIG EAST title match.
   In all five previous finals appearances, the team that won the first set would go on to win the match.

- Creighton is 4-1 all-time in BIG EAST Volleyball Championship action. The .800 winning percentage is the best in league history.

- Creighton is attempting to win the BIG EAST Volleyball championship in back-to-back seasons for the first time since Louisville won three straight titles from 2008-10. The only three schools to ever do that were Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville.

- As a University, Creighton is 1-5 in BIG EAST Tournament title games, with the 2014 Volleyball team owning the only crown (as well as a loss in 2013). Creighton's Baseball team is 0-2, while the men's basketball and men's soccer teams are 0-1 in league championship finals settings.

- Creighton has won 19 of its last 20 matches, with the only loss in that time coming on Oct. 30 in five sets at Villanova.

- Creighton is 5-1 all-time against Villanova, including a 3-0 mark in Omaha where CU has won 9-of-10 sets played. Kirsten Bernthal Booth is also 5-1 against 'Nova and coach Josh Steinbach.

- Creighton improved to 5-2 this season in five-set matches with Friday's victory over Marquette. The Jays are also 9-2 all-time in five-set matches at D.J. Sokol Arena, and 44-23 overall in five-set contests under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.

- If not for the shift to rally scoring in 2001, Creighton might still be trying to wrap up Friday's match against Marquette. Rather than splitting the first four sets 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 20-25 using rally scoring, it would have instead been 10-5, 14-5, 10-14, 6-10 under the old scoring format.

- Each of Creighton's last two matches have gone five sets (also at Georgetown on Nov. 20), with the Bluejays winning both.
   CU last won consecutive matches, both in five sets, on Nov. 16 & 17, 2012, when winning road matches at Wichita State and Missouri State on consecutive evenings.
   The only time Creighton has ever played three straight five-set matches came in October of 1996.

- Saturday marks Creighton's 650th match since the school reinstated the volleyball program in 1994. CU is 352-297, with a 259-145 mark under 13th-year coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth.

- Kate Elman enters Saturday's final with 1,987 career digs. That's 595 more than any other Bluejay in school history, and 13 shy of reaching 2,000 in her career.

- Melanie Jereb had not had more than 16 digs all season long before putting together consecutive standout performances. Jereb had a career-best 30 digs at Georgetown on Nov. 20, then added 20 more digs on Nov. 27 vs. Marquette. Jereb's 1,182 career digs rank sixth-most in CU history.
   Jereb has played in 99 career victories as a Bluejay, most in program history, and one more than teammate Ashley Jansen's 98.

- Jaali Winters had 77 attack attempts on Friday, breaking the previous school-record of 72 done in 2000 by Melanie Keolanui. The previous D.J. Sokol Arena record for attacks by a Bluejay had been 59, done by Winters earlier this year vs. Kansas State on Sept. 20.

- Jaali Winters owns 10 or more kills in 15 straight matches, the third-longest streak in CU history. Winters also owns 14 double-doubles, including five in a row.

- Jaali Winters had 21 kills on Friday, her seventh match this fall with 20 or more kills. Winters is the third player to have 20 or more kills in seven different matches during the same season, joining Leah Ratzlaff and Melissa Walsh who both did it twice each.

- Friday's win over Marquette was Creighton's seventh over a Top-50 RPI squad this fall, and ninth over a team that reached the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

- Friday was the 93rd straight win for Creighton after it's taken a 2-0 lead in the match. CU last wasted a 2-0 intermission advantage on Sept. 12, 2009, when it did so at Dayton.

- Friday marked Creighton's 100th all-time match at D.J. Sokol Arena. The Bluejays are 77-23 all-time in the facility, including a 76-13 mark against unranked foes.

- Creighton's senior class improved to 101-30 with Friday's win, including a 30-4 record in the month of November. They're the winningest senior class in program history, and have won three regular-season conference titles, two conference tournament titles (so far), and have the four winningest seasons in program history.

- Creighton's 14 home wins are a school record for one season. The current 11-match home win streak is the program's second-longest home win streak in program history.

- Creighton's 24 wins this year trail only the 2012 (29 wins) and 2014 (25) squads.

- Winning the first set will be crucial on Saturday. Creighton is 19-1 this year when winning the first set, and has 57 of its last 58 home matches when winning the first set. Villanova is 22-2 when winning the first set this fall.
   Each of the last eight teams to win the first set in the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship final have gone on to take the title.

- Creighton has made four previous NCAA Tournaments, earning bids in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Bluejays are 3-4 all-time in the Big Dance, with all of those appearances coming under Kirsten Bernthal Booth

- Regardless of Saturday's result, the Creighton Volleyball team will gather at the Old Mattress Factory Bar and Grill on Sunday evening to watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. The public and media are invited. The show begins at 8 p.m. Central and airs on ESPNU.
   With an unofficial RPI of 20 entering Saturday's final, Creighton is all but assured to become the first women's team in school history (in any sport) to reach four straight NCAA Tournaments.

Volleyball Hosts Villanova in Saturday's 1 pm BIG EAST Tourney Final

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Players Mentioned

Kate Elman

Ashley Jansen

Melanie Jereb

Jaali Winters