Volleyball Opens BIG EAST Title Defense At Home This Weekend
9/22/2015 2:03:00 PM | Volleyball
This Week's Schedule
Sept. 25 7:00 pm Seton Hall at Creighton (BEDN) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 27 1:00 pm Villanova at Creighton (1290 AM KOIL) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball opens BIG EAST Conference play this weekend with a pair of home matches.
The Bluejays (6-7, 0-0 BIG EAST) begin league action on Friday night at 7 pm Central when it takes on Seton Hall (6-6, 0-0 BIG EAST) in a rematch of last year's BIG EAST Tournament final.
On Sunday at 1 pm Central, Creighton hosts Villanova (10-3, 0-0 BIG EAST).
Both matches will be played at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center (capacity 2,500) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio/Video Broadcast Information
Friday's match will air on BEDN, the league's digital network, with Glen Sisk on the call.
Fans can watch Friday's match by visiting http://www.foxsports.com/foxsportsgo, or by downloading the free FOX Sports GO app to begin accessing content. There is no charge to watch content on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Friday's match will not be on radio.
Sunday's match can be heard on KOIL (1290 AM) and can be heard on-line at http://v6.player.abacast.net/2759, with Rachel Houseman on the call with Erin Swanson Russell.
Sunday's match will also be streamed for free in HD on JaysVideo. To access, visit GoCreighton.com and click on the “TV” icon in the top right of the home page.
Live Stats Information
Both matches this week 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 creighton.statbroadcast.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton went 6-7 this fall against a rigorous non-conference schedule that has featured a nation-leading five top-11 foes, but still saw the Bluejays finish in second place in three straight tournaments.
The Bluejays own wins over Miami University Ohio (3-2), No. 10 Kentucky (3-0), Lipscomb (3-0), CSU Bakersfield (3-1), Arkansas (3-0) and Kansas State (3-2), but have lost to Louisville (3-2), No. 8 Illinois (3-0), No. 8 USC (3-0), Northern Iowa (3-1), Pacific (3-1), No. 4 Nebraska (3-0) and No. 11 Wisconsin (3-0).
Jaali Winters (3.42 kps.) and Jess Bird (2.65 kps., 3.08 dps.) lead the Creighton offense on the outside, while middle blocker Lauren Smith (2.54 kps., 1.21 bps., .368%) continues to excel in the middle and earned All-Tournament Team honors during all four non-conference weekend tournaments.
Maggie Baumert (9.29 aps.) and Kenzie Crawford (10.28 aps.) have each seen time at setter this fall, while libero Kate Elman (3.83 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 12.71 kills, 1.12 aces, 15.42 digs and 2.21 blocks per set while hitting .227 as a team.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall is trying to reclaim the magic that saw it finish second in the BIG EAST last year (15-3) and gain an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after a 28-win season. The Pirates went 6-6 in non-conference play this fall during an up-and-down month that included a 3-0 sweep over Notre Dame, but also a 3-0 loss to Nebraska-Omaha.
Cherise Hennigan (2.78 kps.), Danielle Schroeder (2.67 kps.) and Amanda Hansen (2.29 kps., .273%) have handled the majority of the load on offense, with true freshman Sophia Coffey (8.89 aps.) directing the team.
Also returning is 2014 BIG EAST Libero of the Year Tessa Fournier (4.53 dps.), who is also third on the team with seven service aces.
As a team Seton Hall averages 12.27 kills, 1.09 aces, 15.00 digs and 1.82 blocks per set while hitting .180.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova enters the weekend 10-3 after claiming Philadelphia's “Big Five” title with victories over Temple, La Salle and Penn last week.
The Wildcats have won seven straight matches and showed their mettle less than a month ago with a close loss (25-20, 25-23, 25-21) at No. 1 Penn State.
Allie Loitz (3.67 kps., .296%) and Claire Crutchfield (2.74 kps.) lead VU in kills per set, and Emma Pettit leads the BIG EAST with 11.56 assists per set and leads VU with 14 aces (0.31 saps.).
Michelle Adams leads Villanova with 4.06 digs per set and Gabby Pethokoukis (2.36 kps., 0.95 bps., .307%) paces the team in blocks per set.
As a team, Villanova averages 14.27 kills, 1.33 aces, 15.04 digs and 2.08 block per set while hitting .238.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 241-144 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.
Allison Yaeger (Wright State, 2003) owns a 68-39 mark in her fourth year at Seton Hall. Last year she led the Pirates to their best season since 1994 as SHU went 28-8 and reached the NCAA's, earning her BIG EAST Coach of the Year laurels in the process. She is assisted by Allie Matters.
Josh Steinbach (Penn State, 2002) is 133-120 in his ninth season at Villanova, making him the longest-tenured coach in program history. Before heading to Villanova, he had been an assistant at Wright State, Cincinnati, Penn State and San Diego Mesa CC. He is assisted by Amy Pauly and Ryan Sullivan.
Series History vs. Villanova
Creighton is 4-0 all-time vs. Villanova, including sweeps in both matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 4-0 all-time against Villanova and coach Josh Steinbach.
In last year's match at D.J. Sokol Arena, Villanova owned 14 kills for the entire contest, fewest ever by a Creighton opponent in a match.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Creighton is 2-3 all-time against Seton Hall, including a 1-1 mark in Omaha.
The teams most recently met last November in the BIG EAST Championship match in Milwaukee, Wis., a 3-1 Bluejay victory.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-3 all-time against Seton Hall and coach Allison Yaeger.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton went 2-1 at the Creighton Classic last weekend in Omaha against a loaded field. The Bluejays swept Arkansas (3-0) on Friday before falling to No. 11 Wisconsin (3-0) on Saturday. On Sunday, Creighton lost the first two sets to Kansas State before storming back to win the final three frames in a 3-2 victory.
Lauren Smith and Jaali Winters were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Bluejays.
Against The BIG EAST
As it starts its third season in the BIG EAST, the only team with a winning record in league play against Creighton is Friday's foe, Seton Hall.
Creighton enters this week with 31 wins against BIG EAST competition (including the BIG EAST Championship) over the past two years, tied for the most in the league with Marquette.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 3-1 - 3-1
DePaul 4-0 - 4-0
Georgetown 4-0 - 4-0
Marquette 3-1 0-1 3-2
Providence 2-0 - 2-0
Seton Hall 1-3 1-0 2-3
St. John's 3-1 - 3-1
Villanova 4-0 - 4-0
Xavier 4-0 2-0 6-0
Total 28-6 3-1 31-7
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 ??? ???
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won seven matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including last Sunday's win over Kansas State that saw the Wildcats squander a 24-23 lead in the fourth set. Three of those wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 241-2 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 212-8 (.964) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 155-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 102-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 10-186 (.051) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including a 1-65 mark in those home matches. The only such home comeback came on Sept. 20 vs. Kansas State. Those 10 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
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
Winters Arrives At End Of Summer
Jaali Winters came through in a big way last weekend, especially 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.
AVCA Poll Update
Creighton earned four points in this week's AVCA poll, good for 37th place in the poll.
Creighton has alternated weeks in and out of the AVCA poll all five weeks this season.
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.
Creighton's Gauntlet
Creighton faced five different top-11 teams (at time of the match) during its 13-match non-conference schedule.
Creighton has 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 last week.
Creighton, with five, is 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
Schedule Should 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 have labeled Creighton's schedule as the nation's fifth-toughest (trailing only North Carolina, UCLA, Stanford and Florida), and are a big reason that despite CU's 6-7 mark, the Bluejays still own an unofficial RPI of 44.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton went 8-1 at home last season in BIG EAST play, with the lone setback coming to Friday's foe, Seton Hall.
Creighton is 46-7 (.868) in conference home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena all-time, including a 15-2 mark against BIG EAST competition.
The Bluejays have had a winning record in conference home matches each of the previous nine seasons.
League Opener Histories
Last season's win at Georgetown improved Creighton to 13-8 record all-time in conference openers, including a 10-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 1-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters.
In the 12 seasons that Creighton won its MVC opener, it never finished worse than 9-9 in league play and owned a combined .662 (143-73) winning percentage in MVC action.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Jays had a losing record five times and own a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton is 16-5 overall and 10-2 under Booth.
In league road openers, Creighton is 12-9 overall and 9-3 under Booth.
Let's Compare
Let's take a look at how Creighton's start in 2015 compares to the last three seasons after 13 matches.
Stat 2015 2014 2013 2012
W-L Thru 13 6-7 7-6 9-4 11-2
Final W-L ? ? ? 25-9 23-9 29-4
Postseason ? ? ? NCAA NCAA NCAA
Tourney Titles 0 2 1 2
Kills/Set 12.71 14.08 13.08 13.29
Hitting % .227 .227 .222 .259
Aces/Set 1.12 .90 1.10 1.23
Digs/Set 15.42 15.52 14.12 16.19
Blocks/Set 2.21 2.43 2.96 3.10
Last Meeting With The Hall
Creighton and Seton Hall's meeting on Friday will be a rematch of the 2014 BIG EAST Championship title game, won by the Bluejays 25-12, 17-25, 26-24 and 25-12 in Milwaukee.
Creighton hit .552 in the first set and never trailed before SHU answered with a 25-17 second set to even the match.
Creighton trailed 22-18 but saved a set point and would win the crucial third set, 26-24, in a frame that saw the Bluejays record 10 blocks.
Creighton controlled the final set, winning 25-12 to clinch the program's only BIG EAST Tournament title in any sport to date.
Lauren Smith was named Tournament MVP after 11 kills and 11 blocks, while Jess Bird had 18 kills for the victors.
Milestone Watch
Melanie Jereb has played in 395 career sets. Should she play in five sets or more this weekend, she'll become the 11th player in school history to reach 400 career sets.
Kate Elman continues to climb up the career aces list at Creighton. Her 81 career aces rank ninth in Bluejay history.
Also moving up the top-10 list is Lauren Smith, who owns 299 career block assists and 330 career total blocks. Those figures both rank 10th in CU history.
Nation's Largest Crowd Last Tuesday
Creighton's crowd of 10,131 last Tuesday 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 6,500 for any match this season along with Hawaii (6x) and Nebraska (4x).
Below is a list of the nation's crowds over 6,500 this fall:
Rk. Crowd Match Date
1. 10,131 Nebraska at Creighton 9/15
2. 8,667 UCLA at Hawaii 9/6
3. 8,113 UC Davis at Nebraska 9/11
4. 8,028 Tulsa at Nebraska 8/28
5. 8,021 South Florida at Nebraska 9/12
6. 7,984 Grand Canyon at Nebraska 8/29
7. 7,419 Florida at Hawaii 9/11
8. 6,845 Idaho at Hawaii 8/28
9. 6,718 Florida at Hawaii 9/11
10. 6,603 E. Washington at Hawaii 9/12
11. 6,525 American at Hawaii 9/5
Winters Having A Great Fall
Freshman Jaali Winters continues to lead Creighton in kills, and heads into the weekend with 164.
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.
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.
Below are lists of Creighton's players who have needed the fewest matches to reach 100 and 200 career kills. Winters currently owns 164 kills through 13 matches, which puts her on pace to reach 200 career kills in her 16th career contest (next Friday).
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
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
Rachelle Von 24 11/20/97 vs. Indiana State
Megan Waldren 24 11/12/94 at Illinois State
Carolyn Decker 24 11/13/04 Bradley
Jessica Houts 24 10/29/05 at #25 Wichita St
Amanda Cvejdlik 24 11/19/05 at Bradley
Melanie Jereb 24 11/02/12 at Bradley
Jess Bird 24 11/09/13 at Georgetown
One More On Winters
Jaali Winters had 15 kills and hit .414 in last Tuesday's 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 last Tuesday's 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 (82) and digs (1,028).
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.
Despite no aces and 10 service errors in last Tuesday's loss to Nebraska, Creighton still has 44 aces against just 63 service errors in 817 attempts over the last 11 matches.
Tuesday's match was Creighton's first without an ace and 10 or more errors since Sept. 1, 2009, when it also lost to Nebraska in three sets, and just the third in CU history (vs. #18 Minnesota on Aug. 29, 2008).
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 5-3 and averaged 2.71 blocks per set while holding teams to .179 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 1,037 career digs after she became the 13th Bluejay to reach 1,000 digs last Saturday 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. She also reached double-figures in the kills column on Sept. 12 with 11 vs. CSU Bakersfield and then with 13 more vs. Kansas State on Sept. 20.
Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 201-23 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 40-121 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 48-1 in its last 49 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 5-1 when winning the first set but 1-6 when it falls behind after the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 41-22 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 2-1 mark this year and a 13-6 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 7-2 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 2-1 6-7
Total 56-50 334-296
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.
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 89-84 in the 58 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 29-15 mark since the start of 2012. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 69-51 in 42 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.
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 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 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 81-14 against unranked teams.
Can You Dig It?
Kate Elman already owns a school-record 1,700 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 383 1,700 2012-Pr.
2. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
89 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) 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.
Remaining Creighton Volleyball Radio Schedule
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)
Sept. 25 7:00 pm Seton Hall at Creighton (BEDN) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
Sept. 27 1:00 pm Villanova at Creighton (1290 AM KOIL) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
This Weekend
Creighton Volleyball opens BIG EAST Conference play this weekend with a pair of home matches.
The Bluejays (6-7, 0-0 BIG EAST) begin league action on Friday night at 7 pm Central when it takes on Seton Hall (6-6, 0-0 BIG EAST) in a rematch of last year's BIG EAST Tournament final.
On Sunday at 1 pm Central, Creighton hosts Villanova (10-3, 0-0 BIG EAST).
Both matches will be played at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center (capacity 2,500) in Omaha, Neb.
Radio/Video Broadcast Information
Friday's match will air on BEDN, the league's digital network, with Glen Sisk on the call.
Fans can watch Friday's match by visiting http://www.foxsports.com/foxsportsgo, or by downloading the free FOX Sports GO app to begin accessing content. There is no charge to watch content on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Friday's match will not be on radio.
Sunday's match can be heard on KOIL (1290 AM) and can be heard on-line at http://v6.player.abacast.net/2759, with Rachel Houseman on the call with Erin Swanson Russell.
Sunday's match will also be streamed for free in HD on JaysVideo. To access, visit GoCreighton.com and click on the “TV” icon in the top right of the home page.
Live Stats Information
Both matches this week 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 creighton.statbroadcast.com.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton went 6-7 this fall against a rigorous non-conference schedule that has featured a nation-leading five top-11 foes, but still saw the Bluejays finish in second place in three straight tournaments.
The Bluejays own wins over Miami University Ohio (3-2), No. 10 Kentucky (3-0), Lipscomb (3-0), CSU Bakersfield (3-1), Arkansas (3-0) and Kansas State (3-2), but have lost to Louisville (3-2), No. 8 Illinois (3-0), No. 8 USC (3-0), Northern Iowa (3-1), Pacific (3-1), No. 4 Nebraska (3-0) and No. 11 Wisconsin (3-0).
Jaali Winters (3.42 kps.) and Jess Bird (2.65 kps., 3.08 dps.) lead the Creighton offense on the outside, while middle blocker Lauren Smith (2.54 kps., 1.21 bps., .368%) continues to excel in the middle and earned All-Tournament Team honors during all four non-conference weekend tournaments.
Maggie Baumert (9.29 aps.) and Kenzie Crawford (10.28 aps.) have each seen time at setter this fall, while libero Kate Elman (3.83 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 12.71 kills, 1.12 aces, 15.42 digs and 2.21 blocks per set while hitting .227 as a team.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall is trying to reclaim the magic that saw it finish second in the BIG EAST last year (15-3) and gain an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after a 28-win season. The Pirates went 6-6 in non-conference play this fall during an up-and-down month that included a 3-0 sweep over Notre Dame, but also a 3-0 loss to Nebraska-Omaha.
Cherise Hennigan (2.78 kps.), Danielle Schroeder (2.67 kps.) and Amanda Hansen (2.29 kps., .273%) have handled the majority of the load on offense, with true freshman Sophia Coffey (8.89 aps.) directing the team.
Also returning is 2014 BIG EAST Libero of the Year Tessa Fournier (4.53 dps.), who is also third on the team with seven service aces.
As a team Seton Hall averages 12.27 kills, 1.09 aces, 15.00 digs and 1.82 blocks per set while hitting .180.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova enters the weekend 10-3 after claiming Philadelphia's “Big Five” title with victories over Temple, La Salle and Penn last week.
The Wildcats have won seven straight matches and showed their mettle less than a month ago with a close loss (25-20, 25-23, 25-21) at No. 1 Penn State.
Allie Loitz (3.67 kps., .296%) and Claire Crutchfield (2.74 kps.) lead VU in kills per set, and Emma Pettit leads the BIG EAST with 11.56 assists per set and leads VU with 14 aces (0.31 saps.).
Michelle Adams leads Villanova with 4.06 digs per set and Gabby Pethokoukis (2.36 kps., 0.95 bps., .307%) paces the team in blocks per set.
As a team, Villanova averages 14.27 kills, 1.33 aces, 15.04 digs and 2.08 block per set while hitting .238.
The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 241-144 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.
Allison Yaeger (Wright State, 2003) owns a 68-39 mark in her fourth year at Seton Hall. Last year she led the Pirates to their best season since 1994 as SHU went 28-8 and reached the NCAA's, earning her BIG EAST Coach of the Year laurels in the process. She is assisted by Allie Matters.
Josh Steinbach (Penn State, 2002) is 133-120 in his ninth season at Villanova, making him the longest-tenured coach in program history. Before heading to Villanova, he had been an assistant at Wright State, Cincinnati, Penn State and San Diego Mesa CC. He is assisted by Amy Pauly and Ryan Sullivan.
Series History vs. Villanova
Creighton is 4-0 all-time vs. Villanova, including sweeps in both matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 4-0 all-time against Villanova and coach Josh Steinbach.
In last year's match at D.J. Sokol Arena, Villanova owned 14 kills for the entire contest, fewest ever by a Creighton opponent in a match.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Creighton is 2-3 all-time against Seton Hall, including a 1-1 mark in Omaha.
The teams most recently met last November in the BIG EAST Championship match in Milwaukee, Wis., a 3-1 Bluejay victory.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-3 all-time against Seton Hall and coach Allison Yaeger.
Last Weekend Summary
Creighton went 2-1 at the Creighton Classic last weekend in Omaha against a loaded field. The Bluejays swept Arkansas (3-0) on Friday before falling to No. 11 Wisconsin (3-0) on Saturday. On Sunday, Creighton lost the first two sets to Kansas State before storming back to win the final three frames in a 3-2 victory.
Lauren Smith and Jaali Winters were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Bluejays.
Against The BIG EAST
As it starts its third season in the BIG EAST, the only team with a winning record in league play against Creighton is Friday's foe, Seton Hall.
Creighton enters this week with 31 wins against BIG EAST competition (including the BIG EAST Championship) over the past two years, tied for the most in the league with Marquette.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 3-1 - 3-1
DePaul 4-0 - 4-0
Georgetown 4-0 - 4-0
Marquette 3-1 0-1 3-2
Providence 2-0 - 2-0
Seton Hall 1-3 1-0 2-3
St. John's 3-1 - 3-1
Villanova 4-0 - 4-0
Xavier 4-0 2-0 6-0
Total 28-6 3-1 31-7
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 ??? ???
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won seven matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including last Sunday's win over Kansas State that saw the Wildcats squander a 24-23 lead in the fourth set. Three of those wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 241-2 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 212-8 (.964) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 155-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 102-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
Conversely, the Jays are 10-186 (.051) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including a 1-65 mark in those home matches. The only such home comeback came on Sept. 20 vs. Kansas State. Those 10 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
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
Winters Arrives At End Of Summer
Jaali Winters came through in a big way last weekend, especially 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.
AVCA Poll Update
Creighton earned four points in this week's AVCA poll, good for 37th place in the poll.
Creighton has alternated weeks in and out of the AVCA poll all five weeks this season.
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.
Creighton's Gauntlet
Creighton faced five different top-11 teams (at time of the match) during its 13-match non-conference schedule.
Creighton has 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 last week.
Creighton, with five, is 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
Schedule Should 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 have labeled Creighton's schedule as the nation's fifth-toughest (trailing only North Carolina, UCLA, Stanford and Florida), and are a big reason that despite CU's 6-7 mark, the Bluejays still own an unofficial RPI of 44.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton went 8-1 at home last season in BIG EAST play, with the lone setback coming to Friday's foe, Seton Hall.
Creighton is 46-7 (.868) in conference home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena all-time, including a 15-2 mark against BIG EAST competition.
The Bluejays have had a winning record in conference home matches each of the previous nine seasons.
League Opener Histories
Last season's win at Georgetown improved Creighton to 13-8 record all-time in conference openers, including a 10-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 1-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters.
In the 12 seasons that Creighton won its MVC opener, it never finished worse than 9-9 in league play and owned a combined .662 (143-73) winning percentage in MVC action.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Jays had a losing record five times and own a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton is 16-5 overall and 10-2 under Booth.
In league road openers, Creighton is 12-9 overall and 9-3 under Booth.
Let's Compare
Let's take a look at how Creighton's start in 2015 compares to the last three seasons after 13 matches.
Stat 2015 2014 2013 2012
W-L Thru 13 6-7 7-6 9-4 11-2
Final W-L ? ? ? 25-9 23-9 29-4
Postseason ? ? ? NCAA NCAA NCAA
Tourney Titles 0 2 1 2
Kills/Set 12.71 14.08 13.08 13.29
Hitting % .227 .227 .222 .259
Aces/Set 1.12 .90 1.10 1.23
Digs/Set 15.42 15.52 14.12 16.19
Blocks/Set 2.21 2.43 2.96 3.10
Last Meeting With The Hall
Creighton and Seton Hall's meeting on Friday will be a rematch of the 2014 BIG EAST Championship title game, won by the Bluejays 25-12, 17-25, 26-24 and 25-12 in Milwaukee.
Creighton hit .552 in the first set and never trailed before SHU answered with a 25-17 second set to even the match.
Creighton trailed 22-18 but saved a set point and would win the crucial third set, 26-24, in a frame that saw the Bluejays record 10 blocks.
Creighton controlled the final set, winning 25-12 to clinch the program's only BIG EAST Tournament title in any sport to date.
Lauren Smith was named Tournament MVP after 11 kills and 11 blocks, while Jess Bird had 18 kills for the victors.
Milestone Watch
Melanie Jereb has played in 395 career sets. Should she play in five sets or more this weekend, she'll become the 11th player in school history to reach 400 career sets.
Kate Elman continues to climb up the career aces list at Creighton. Her 81 career aces rank ninth in Bluejay history.
Also moving up the top-10 list is Lauren Smith, who owns 299 career block assists and 330 career total blocks. Those figures both rank 10th in CU history.
Nation's Largest Crowd Last Tuesday
Creighton's crowd of 10,131 last Tuesday 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 6,500 for any match this season along with Hawaii (6x) and Nebraska (4x).
Below is a list of the nation's crowds over 6,500 this fall:
Rk. Crowd Match Date
1. 10,131 Nebraska at Creighton 9/15
2. 8,667 UCLA at Hawaii 9/6
3. 8,113 UC Davis at Nebraska 9/11
4. 8,028 Tulsa at Nebraska 8/28
5. 8,021 South Florida at Nebraska 9/12
6. 7,984 Grand Canyon at Nebraska 8/29
7. 7,419 Florida at Hawaii 9/11
8. 6,845 Idaho at Hawaii 8/28
9. 6,718 Florida at Hawaii 9/11
10. 6,603 E. Washington at Hawaii 9/12
11. 6,525 American at Hawaii 9/5
Winters Having A Great Fall
Freshman Jaali Winters continues to lead Creighton in kills, and heads into the weekend with 164.
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.
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.
Below are lists of Creighton's players who have needed the fewest matches to reach 100 and 200 career kills. Winters currently owns 164 kills through 13 matches, which puts her on pace to reach 200 career kills in her 16th career contest (next Friday).
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
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
Rachelle Von 24 11/20/97 vs. Indiana State
Megan Waldren 24 11/12/94 at Illinois State
Carolyn Decker 24 11/13/04 Bradley
Jessica Houts 24 10/29/05 at #25 Wichita St
Amanda Cvejdlik 24 11/19/05 at Bradley
Melanie Jereb 24 11/02/12 at Bradley
Jess Bird 24 11/09/13 at Georgetown
One More On Winters
Jaali Winters had 15 kills and hit .414 in last Tuesday's 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 last Tuesday's 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 (82) and digs (1,028).
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.
Despite no aces and 10 service errors in last Tuesday's loss to Nebraska, Creighton still has 44 aces against just 63 service errors in 817 attempts over the last 11 matches.
Tuesday's match was Creighton's first without an ace and 10 or more errors since Sept. 1, 2009, when it also lost to Nebraska in three sets, and just the third in CU history (vs. #18 Minnesota on Aug. 29, 2008).
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 5-3 and averaged 2.71 blocks per set while holding teams to .179 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 1,037 career digs after she became the 13th Bluejay to reach 1,000 digs last Saturday 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. She also reached double-figures in the kills column on Sept. 12 with 11 vs. CSU Bakersfield and then with 13 more vs. Kansas State on Sept. 20.
Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 201-23 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 40-121 under Booth when it drops the first set.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 48-1 in its last 49 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 5-1 when winning the first set but 1-6 when it falls behind after the first set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 41-22 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 2-1 mark this year and a 13-6 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 7-2 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 2-1 6-7
Total 56-50 334-296
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.
Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 89-84 in the 58 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 29-15 mark since the start of 2012. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 69-51 in 42 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.
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 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 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 81-14 against unranked teams.
Can You Dig It?
Kate Elman already owns a school-record 1,700 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 383 1,700 2012-Pr.
2. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
10+D Name Years
89 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) 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.
Remaining Creighton Volleyball Radio Schedule
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 Pink Out Recap vs. Seton Hall
Wednesday, October 22
Creighton Media Availability Volleyball - 10/21/25
Tuesday, October 21
Creighton Volleyball vs Seton Hall Postgame Press Conference - 10-19-25
Sunday, October 19
Creighton Women's Volleyball Highlights vs. St. John's - 10-17-25
Saturday, October 18
