Volleyball Opens Season at Illini Classic
8/25/2015 6:10:00 PM | Volleyball
This Week -- Illini Classic
Aug. 28 4:00 pm Creighton vs. Miami Champaign, Ill. (George Huff Hall)
Aug. 29 12:30 pm Creighton vs. Louisville Champaign, Ill. (George Huff Hall)
Aug. 29 7:30 pm Creighton at #8 Illinois Champaign, Ill. (George Huff Hall)
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball opens the 2015 season on the road this weekend, as it heads to Champaign, Ill., to play in the Illini Classic.
Creighton (0-0) opens the regular-season on Friday with a 4:00 pm match against Miami (0-0).
On Saturday, Creighton faces Louisville at 12:30 pm before taking on eighth-ranked tournament host Illinois at 7:30 pm.
All three matches will take place at George Huff Hall (4,536 capacity) in Champaign, Ill.
Radio/Video Broadcast Information
All matches at the Illini Classic will have free video, courtesy of Illinois Athletics. Links will be set up at fightingillini.com/watch to view the webcasts.
Saturday's Creighton-Illinois match-up will also air on WDWS in Champaign. To access that stream, visit fightingillini.com, then click on “TuneIn Stream” under the “Watch/Listen” tab at the top of the page.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the Illini Classic 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 Creighton's matches.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton returns 11 letterwinners and four starters (plus its libero) from last year's team that finished 25-9 overall and won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.
The Bluejays have made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments and are ranked 36th in the preseason AVCA poll.
Spearheading the returners is Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Jess Bird (2.96 kps., 2.49 dps.). Bird was a First Team All-BIG EAST choice last fall despite missing most of September following knee surgery.
In the middle, Lauren Smith (2.17 kps., 1.03 bps., .327%) was a Second Team All-BIG EAST pick and also named Most Valuable Player of the 2014 BIG EAST Championships.
Senior Maggie Baumert (9.85 aps.) earned the bulk of the time at setter last year, while classmate Kate Elman (4.38 dps.) is already Creighton's all-time career digs leader.
Creighton was a unanimous pick to win the BIG EAST, while Elman, Bird and Smith were named preseason all-league picks.
Last year's Creighton club averaged 14.15 kills, 1.14 aces, 16.62 digs and 2.66 blocks per set while hitting .235 as a team.
Scouting Miami
Miami returns five starters and its libero from last year's team that went 21-10 and lost a five-set match in the final of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Four attackers who averaged more than 2.00 kills per set return, a group consisting of OH Olivia Rusek (2.36 kps.), MH Paige Hill (2.35 kps., 0.97 bps.), OH Annie Reiswig (2.23 kps.) and MH Jenny Ingle (2.14 kps., .367%). Hill was a First Team All-MAC pick last fall, while Ingle was a second-team choice.
Junior setter Krista Brakauskas (6.15 aps.) also returns after she split time last season with Meg Riley (5.67 aps., 2.35 kps., 2.82 dps.).
Last season the RedHawks averaged 13.52 kills, 1.07 aces, 16.41 digs and 1.95 blocks per set while hitting .235 overall.
Scouting Louisville
Louisville returns nine letterwinners and six starters from last year's 15-15 team, including Preseason All-ACC selection Katie George (10.31 aps., 2.70 dps., 0.32 saps.) and 2014 All-ACC First Team selection Janelle Jenkins (3.09 kps., .258%) at middle blocker.
The Cards also welcome seven newcomers that were named the nation's No. 16 recruiting class, including Preseason All-ACC selection and transfer OH Erin Fairs (3.88 kps., 3.82 dps. at South Florida in 2014), and USA Junior National Volleyball Team member Molly Sauer.
Last year's Louisville team averaged 13.08 kills, 1.13 aces, 15.27 digs and 2.31 blocks per set while hitting .254.
Scouting No. 8 Illinois
Illinois went 26-8 last season, finishing third in the Big Ten and advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
Star libero Brandi Donnelly (4.49 dps.) joins four returning starters and the nation's top-ranked recruiting class for an Illini team that's ranked eighth-best in the AVCA preseason poll.
Jocelynn Birks (4.05 kps., 2.58 dps.) is the star offensive returner after she earned Second Team All-America accolades last fall.
Highlighting the recruiting class is freshmen recruits Jordyn Poulter (No. 3), Ali Bastianelli (No. 10) and Beth Prince (No. 52), as well as Oregon transfer Naya Crittenden (1.85 kps.).
Last season's Illinois team averaged 13.82 kills, 0.89 aces, 14.89 digs and 2.69 blocks per set while hitting .253.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 235-137 record entering 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.
Carolyn Condit (Mt. St. Joseph's, 1976) enters her 32nd year as head coach at Miami, and 36th overall as a college head coach. Her record with the RedHawks is 542-430, while her career mark is 641-510. She's the winningest coach in school history in any sport, and the Mid-American Conference's all-time volleyball wins leader. She's assisted by Chuck Rey and Jesse Ortiz.
Anne Kordes (Louisville, 1998) enters her fifth year at the helm of Louisville, where she owns a 92-36 mark. Kordes owns a career mark of 238-111 entering her 11th season, which includes a successful stint at Saint Louis. She's assisted by Alyssa D'Errico, Alex Wilharm and Tyler Wills.
Illinois is coached by Kevin Hambly (Illinois, 2006), who is 140-59 in six previous seasons with the Illini. He's taken the Fighting Illini to five Sweet 16's in that time, including a trip to the 2011 national championship game. Hambly is assisted by Hillary Haen Tennant, Owen Monroy and Chad Gordon.
Series History vs. Miami
Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Miami, defeating the RedHawks in four sets at the 2006 Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Amanda Cvejdlik led CU with 17 kills, while Abby Baumann (14 kills, 19 digs) and Korie Lebeda (48 assists, 10 digs) each contributed double-doubles in the win.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 1-0 against Miami and RedHawks coach Carolyn Condit.
Series History vs. Louisville
Creighton and Louisville have never met.
Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth has never faced Louisville, and is 2-1 against UofL coach Anne Kordes from her days at Saint Louis.
Series History vs. No. 8 Illinois
Creighton is 0-3 all-time against Illinois, losing in four sets in both 2007 and 2014 and being swept in 2009.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-3 against Illinois, and 0-2 against Kevin Hambly.
In last year's 3-1 win in Omaha, Jocelynn Birks had 18 kills and 11 digs, while Brandi Donnelly had 23 digs for Illinois. Creighton was paced by 16 kills from Kelli Browning and 26 digs by Kate Elman.
Blue-White Scrimmage Summary
Creighton opened its 2015 exhibition season last Friday with a 2-2 tie in the annual Blue-White Scrimmage. The teams had agreed to play four sets, regardless of the results, which led to the tie.
White won the first set 25-22, Blue took the next two frames 25-23 and 25-22, and White won the final set 15-8.
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.
Season Opening History
With its 3-1 win over Lipscomb last fall, Creighton improved its record to 13-8 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994. Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 9-3 in opening matches and on a six-year winning streak. The six straight wins in season-openers is the best mark in program history.
Booth is 10-2 in Creighton's first match away from home, helping Creighton improve to 13-8 in such contests all-time.
Creighton's six straight wins in season-openers is the longest active streak in the BIG EAST, one more than St. John's.
Hello World!
Brittany Lawrence, Kelsey O'Connell, Taryn Kloth, Samantha Bohnet, Jaali Winters and Megan Ballenger all could make their Division I debut this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (and at Creighton in Baumert's case).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2013 Jess Bird• 4 14 5 29 .310 3 2 12 0
2013 Lauren Smith• 4 9 0 14 .643 0 0 0 4
2012 Melanie Jereb• 4 5 2 28 .107 0 0 14 0
2014 Marysa Wilkinson 2 5 0 7 .714 0 0 1 2
2012 Kate Elman 4 1 0 2 .500 4 1 22 0
2012 Ashley Jansen• 4 1 0 3 .333 1 1 10 0
2012 Maggie Baumert# 4 1 0 3 .333 24 0 8 0
2014 Maggie Baumert• 4 0 0 1 .000 28 0 9 0
2014 Kenzie Crawford 2 0 0 0 --- 1 0 7 0
2012 Lizzy Stivers 4 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2013 Amanda Foje 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
#Baumert's stats from her debut at Georgia
•Baumert's stats from her debut at Creighton
Some Fab Freshmen
Creighton has started six different true freshmen in a season opener in the previous five years, and 12 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) and Jess Bird (2013). In addition, CU also started redshirt freshman Lauren Smith (2013) and transfer Maggie Baumert (2014) in the season-opener.
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.
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.
Put It In Neutral
Creighton has won 19 of its last 24 matches against teams on neutral floors in the last four years, including wins vs. No. 13 BYU in the 2013 season-opener, a win over Marquette in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, and a victory over Seton Hall in the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament final.
On The Road Again
Creighton will take a five-match win streak in true road matches into Saturday night's showdown with No. 8 Illinois. The streak is tied for the fifth-longest of its kind in CU history, and three shy of the mark.
Creighton's Longest Road Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
8 Sept. 29 - Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
7 Sept. 21-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita State, 3-0
7 Nov. 21, 2009-Oct. 2, 2010 at Drake, 3-1
6 Oct. 14-Nov. 17, 2000 at Missouri State, 3-0
5 Nov. 21, 2003-Sept. 14, 2004 at Wichita State, 3-1
5 Oct. 11, 2014-Present ? ? ?
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 83-78 in the 54 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 23-9 mark since the start of 2012. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 63-45 in 38 regular-season tournaments, including nine titles.
Creighton won two regular-season tournaments in 2012, taking the season-opening USF Invitational as well as the Northern Colorado Classic, the Hampton Inn Invitational in 2013, and last year's Bluejay Invitational.
Creighton had won just two of 16 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the third straight season, Creighton has been 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 ??? ???
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.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton has five non-conference matches scheduled against teams that are in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll, tied for the most in the nation.
Creighton plays 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 3-57 all-time against top-25 foes, including an 0-30 mark in true road matches.
A win against No. 8 Illinois on Saturday night would be the highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten, as well as the first ranked team ever beaten in a true road match.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 11 of Creighton's 22 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 76-11 against unranked teams.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won six matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. Three of those wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 235-2 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
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 208-8 (.963) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 151-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 99-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 9-181 (.047) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-63 mark in those home matches. Those nine comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below.
Notably, last year's team joined the 2004 club 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
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 39-21 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 3-2 mark last year and a 12-6 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 6-2 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
Total 54-49 328-289
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.
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%)
Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 196-22 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 39-115 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Creighton has also won 45 home straight contests when winning the first set.
Last year Creighton was 20-2 when winning the first set and 5-7 when dropping the opener.
Miami was 16-4 when winning the first set and 5-6 when it didn't last season.
Louisville was 14-3 when winning the first set and 1-12 last season when it fell behind 0-1.
Illinois was 23-1 last season when winning the first set, compared to a 3-7 mark when dropping the first frame.
Can You Dig It?
Kate Elman enters her senior season with a school-record 1,516 career digs. Elman also owns Creighton career marks for matches with 10+ digs and is tied for the most matches with 20+ dig contests.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kate Elman 335 1,516 2012-Pr.
2. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
79 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
74 Janeen Piller 2001-04
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
32 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-11
32 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
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
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) and KOIL (1290 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.
9/11 Lipscomb (KZOT)
9/12 CSU Bakersfield (KZOT)
9/12 Pacific (KZOT)
9/15 Nebraska (KZOT)
9/18 Arkansas (KZOT)
9/19 Wisconsin (KZOT)
9/20 Kansas State (KOIL)
9/27 Villanova (KOIL)
10/6 Georgetown (KZOT)
10/9 DePaul (KZOT)
10/23 Providence (KZOT)
10/25 St. John's (KZOT)
11/15 Butler (KZOT)
11/28 BIG EAST Tourney (TBD)
11/29 BIG EAST Tourney (TBD)
Aug. 28 4:00 pm Creighton vs. Miami Champaign, Ill. (George Huff Hall)
Aug. 29 12:30 pm Creighton vs. Louisville Champaign, Ill. (George Huff Hall)
Aug. 29 7:30 pm Creighton at #8 Illinois Champaign, Ill. (George Huff Hall)
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball opens the 2015 season on the road this weekend, as it heads to Champaign, Ill., to play in the Illini Classic.
Creighton (0-0) opens the regular-season on Friday with a 4:00 pm match against Miami (0-0).
On Saturday, Creighton faces Louisville at 12:30 pm before taking on eighth-ranked tournament host Illinois at 7:30 pm.
All three matches will take place at George Huff Hall (4,536 capacity) in Champaign, Ill.
Radio/Video Broadcast Information
All matches at the Illini Classic will have free video, courtesy of Illinois Athletics. Links will be set up at fightingillini.com/watch to view the webcasts.
Saturday's Creighton-Illinois match-up will also air on WDWS in Champaign. To access that stream, visit fightingillini.com, then click on “TuneIn Stream” under the “Watch/Listen” tab at the top of the page.
Live Stats Information
All matches at the Illini Classic 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 Creighton's matches.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton returns 11 letterwinners and four starters (plus its libero) from last year's team that finished 25-9 overall and won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.
The Bluejays have made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments and are ranked 36th in the preseason AVCA poll.
Spearheading the returners is Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Jess Bird (2.96 kps., 2.49 dps.). Bird was a First Team All-BIG EAST choice last fall despite missing most of September following knee surgery.
In the middle, Lauren Smith (2.17 kps., 1.03 bps., .327%) was a Second Team All-BIG EAST pick and also named Most Valuable Player of the 2014 BIG EAST Championships.
Senior Maggie Baumert (9.85 aps.) earned the bulk of the time at setter last year, while classmate Kate Elman (4.38 dps.) is already Creighton's all-time career digs leader.
Creighton was a unanimous pick to win the BIG EAST, while Elman, Bird and Smith were named preseason all-league picks.
Last year's Creighton club averaged 14.15 kills, 1.14 aces, 16.62 digs and 2.66 blocks per set while hitting .235 as a team.
Scouting Miami
Miami returns five starters and its libero from last year's team that went 21-10 and lost a five-set match in the final of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Four attackers who averaged more than 2.00 kills per set return, a group consisting of OH Olivia Rusek (2.36 kps.), MH Paige Hill (2.35 kps., 0.97 bps.), OH Annie Reiswig (2.23 kps.) and MH Jenny Ingle (2.14 kps., .367%). Hill was a First Team All-MAC pick last fall, while Ingle was a second-team choice.
Junior setter Krista Brakauskas (6.15 aps.) also returns after she split time last season with Meg Riley (5.67 aps., 2.35 kps., 2.82 dps.).
Last season the RedHawks averaged 13.52 kills, 1.07 aces, 16.41 digs and 1.95 blocks per set while hitting .235 overall.
Scouting Louisville
Louisville returns nine letterwinners and six starters from last year's 15-15 team, including Preseason All-ACC selection Katie George (10.31 aps., 2.70 dps., 0.32 saps.) and 2014 All-ACC First Team selection Janelle Jenkins (3.09 kps., .258%) at middle blocker.
The Cards also welcome seven newcomers that were named the nation's No. 16 recruiting class, including Preseason All-ACC selection and transfer OH Erin Fairs (3.88 kps., 3.82 dps. at South Florida in 2014), and USA Junior National Volleyball Team member Molly Sauer.
Last year's Louisville team averaged 13.08 kills, 1.13 aces, 15.27 digs and 2.31 blocks per set while hitting .254.
Scouting No. 8 Illinois
Illinois went 26-8 last season, finishing third in the Big Ten and advancing to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
Star libero Brandi Donnelly (4.49 dps.) joins four returning starters and the nation's top-ranked recruiting class for an Illini team that's ranked eighth-best in the AVCA preseason poll.
Jocelynn Birks (4.05 kps., 2.58 dps.) is the star offensive returner after she earned Second Team All-America accolades last fall.
Highlighting the recruiting class is freshmen recruits Jordyn Poulter (No. 3), Ali Bastianelli (No. 10) and Beth Prince (No. 52), as well as Oregon transfer Naya Crittenden (1.85 kps.).
Last season's Illinois team averaged 13.82 kills, 0.89 aces, 14.89 digs and 2.69 blocks per set while hitting .253.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 235-137 record entering 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.
Carolyn Condit (Mt. St. Joseph's, 1976) enters her 32nd year as head coach at Miami, and 36th overall as a college head coach. Her record with the RedHawks is 542-430, while her career mark is 641-510. She's the winningest coach in school history in any sport, and the Mid-American Conference's all-time volleyball wins leader. She's assisted by Chuck Rey and Jesse Ortiz.
Anne Kordes (Louisville, 1998) enters her fifth year at the helm of Louisville, where she owns a 92-36 mark. Kordes owns a career mark of 238-111 entering her 11th season, which includes a successful stint at Saint Louis. She's assisted by Alyssa D'Errico, Alex Wilharm and Tyler Wills.
Illinois is coached by Kevin Hambly (Illinois, 2006), who is 140-59 in six previous seasons with the Illini. He's taken the Fighting Illini to five Sweet 16's in that time, including a trip to the 2011 national championship game. Hambly is assisted by Hillary Haen Tennant, Owen Monroy and Chad Gordon.
Series History vs. Miami
Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Miami, defeating the RedHawks in four sets at the 2006 Blue Raider Bash in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Amanda Cvejdlik led CU with 17 kills, while Abby Baumann (14 kills, 19 digs) and Korie Lebeda (48 assists, 10 digs) each contributed double-doubles in the win.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 1-0 against Miami and RedHawks coach Carolyn Condit.
Series History vs. Louisville
Creighton and Louisville have never met.
Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth has never faced Louisville, and is 2-1 against UofL coach Anne Kordes from her days at Saint Louis.
Series History vs. No. 8 Illinois
Creighton is 0-3 all-time against Illinois, losing in four sets in both 2007 and 2014 and being swept in 2009.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-3 against Illinois, and 0-2 against Kevin Hambly.
In last year's 3-1 win in Omaha, Jocelynn Birks had 18 kills and 11 digs, while Brandi Donnelly had 23 digs for Illinois. Creighton was paced by 16 kills from Kelli Browning and 26 digs by Kate Elman.
Blue-White Scrimmage Summary
Creighton opened its 2015 exhibition season last Friday with a 2-2 tie in the annual Blue-White Scrimmage. The teams had agreed to play four sets, regardless of the results, which led to the tie.
White won the first set 25-22, Blue took the next two frames 25-23 and 25-22, and White won the final set 15-8.
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.
Season Opening History
With its 3-1 win over Lipscomb last fall, Creighton improved its record to 13-8 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994. Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 9-3 in opening matches and on a six-year winning streak. The six straight wins in season-openers is the best mark in program history.
Booth is 10-2 in Creighton's first match away from home, helping Creighton improve to 13-8 in such contests all-time.
Creighton's six straight wins in season-openers is the longest active streak in the BIG EAST, one more than St. John's.
Hello World!
Brittany Lawrence, Kelsey O'Connell, Taryn Kloth, Samantha Bohnet, Jaali Winters and Megan Ballenger all could make their Division I debut this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (and at Creighton in Baumert's case).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2013 Jess Bird• 4 14 5 29 .310 3 2 12 0
2013 Lauren Smith• 4 9 0 14 .643 0 0 0 4
2012 Melanie Jereb• 4 5 2 28 .107 0 0 14 0
2014 Marysa Wilkinson 2 5 0 7 .714 0 0 1 2
2012 Kate Elman 4 1 0 2 .500 4 1 22 0
2012 Ashley Jansen• 4 1 0 3 .333 1 1 10 0
2012 Maggie Baumert# 4 1 0 3 .333 24 0 8 0
2014 Maggie Baumert• 4 0 0 1 .000 28 0 9 0
2014 Kenzie Crawford 2 0 0 0 --- 1 0 7 0
2012 Lizzy Stivers 4 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2013 Amanda Foje 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
#Baumert's stats from her debut at Georgia
•Baumert's stats from her debut at Creighton
Some Fab Freshmen
Creighton has started six different true freshmen in a season opener in the previous five years, and 12 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) and Jess Bird (2013). In addition, CU also started redshirt freshman Lauren Smith (2013) and transfer Maggie Baumert (2014) in the season-opener.
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.
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.
Put It In Neutral
Creighton has won 19 of its last 24 matches against teams on neutral floors in the last four years, including wins vs. No. 13 BYU in the 2013 season-opener, a win over Marquette in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, and a victory over Seton Hall in the 2014 BIG EAST Tournament final.
On The Road Again
Creighton will take a five-match win streak in true road matches into Saturday night's showdown with No. 8 Illinois. The streak is tied for the fifth-longest of its kind in CU history, and three shy of the mark.
Creighton's Longest Road Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
8 Sept. 29 - Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
7 Sept. 21-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita State, 3-0
7 Nov. 21, 2009-Oct. 2, 2010 at Drake, 3-1
6 Oct. 14-Nov. 17, 2000 at Missouri State, 3-0
5 Nov. 21, 2003-Sept. 14, 2004 at Wichita State, 3-1
5 Oct. 11, 2014-Present ? ? ?
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 83-78 in the 54 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 23-9 mark since the start of 2012. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 63-45 in 38 regular-season tournaments, including nine titles.
Creighton won two regular-season tournaments in 2012, taking the season-opening USF Invitational as well as the Northern Colorado Classic, the Hampton Inn Invitational in 2013, and last year's Bluejay Invitational.
Creighton had won just two of 16 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the third straight season, Creighton has been 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 ??? ???
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.
The Votes Add Up
Creighton has five non-conference matches scheduled against teams that are in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll, tied for the most in the nation.
Creighton plays 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 3-57 all-time against top-25 foes, including an 0-30 mark in true road matches.
A win against No. 8 Illinois on Saturday night would be the highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten, as well as the first ranked team ever beaten in a true road match.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 11 of Creighton's 22 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 76-11 against unranked teams.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won six matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. Three of those wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 235-2 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
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 208-8 (.963) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 151-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 99-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 9-181 (.047) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-63 mark in those home matches. Those nine comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below.
Notably, last year's team joined the 2004 club 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
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 39-21 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 3-2 mark last year and a 12-6 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 6-2 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
Total 54-49 328-289
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.
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%)
Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 196-22 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 39-115 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Creighton has also won 45 home straight contests when winning the first set.
Last year Creighton was 20-2 when winning the first set and 5-7 when dropping the opener.
Miami was 16-4 when winning the first set and 5-6 when it didn't last season.
Louisville was 14-3 when winning the first set and 1-12 last season when it fell behind 0-1.
Illinois was 23-1 last season when winning the first set, compared to a 3-7 mark when dropping the first frame.
Can You Dig It?
Kate Elman enters her senior season with a school-record 1,516 career digs. Elman also owns Creighton career marks for matches with 10+ digs and is tied for the most matches with 20+ dig contests.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kate Elman 335 1,516 2012-Pr.
2. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
79 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
74 Janeen Piller 2001-04
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
32 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-11
32 Kate Elman 2012-Pres.
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
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
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) and KOIL (1290 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.
9/11 Lipscomb (KZOT)
9/12 CSU Bakersfield (KZOT)
9/12 Pacific (KZOT)
9/15 Nebraska (KZOT)
9/18 Arkansas (KZOT)
9/19 Wisconsin (KZOT)
9/20 Kansas State (KOIL)
9/27 Villanova (KOIL)
10/6 Georgetown (KZOT)
10/9 DePaul (KZOT)
10/23 Providence (KZOT)
10/25 St. John's (KZOT)
11/15 Butler (KZOT)
11/28 BIG EAST Tourney (TBD)
11/29 BIG EAST Tourney (TBD)
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball Postgame Press Conference vs. Kansas - 9/21/25
Monday, September 22
Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. Kansas, 9/21/25
Monday, September 22
Creighton Volleyball vs. South Florida Press Conference - 9/20/25
Saturday, September 20
#18 Creighton Volleyball vs. South Florida Highlights - 9/20/25
Saturday, September 20
