Creighton earned the automatic bid out of the BIG EAST wtih a win on Saturday.
Photo by: Justin Casterline
Volleyball Returns to NCAA Tournament For Fifth Straight Year; Meets UNI in First Round
11/27/2016 8:05:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays to meet Northern Iowa on Thursday in Lawrence, Kan.
OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton's three-time defending BIG EAST champion volleyball team will head to Lawrence, Kan. and play Northern Iowa in first round action on Thursday at 4 pm Central. The field of 64 was announced on Sunday night on ESPNU.
The matches in Lawrence will take place at Horejsi Family Athletics Center on the KU campus.
Creighton (26-6, 18-0 BIG EAST) earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with Saturday's 3-0 win over Xavier, the team's school-record 20th win in a row. Northern Iowa is 24-9 and earned an at-large bid out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton swept UNI in Los Angeles on September 2nd in the USC Radisson Classic.
Creighton will be making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, all in the last seven years. With its fifth straight bid, the Bluejays become the school's first women's squad in any sport to reach five consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Creighton is 5-5 all-time in the NCAA's, including a 2-1 record last year when the team won the Chapel Hill sub-Regional and advanced to the program's first Sweet 16.
The Bluejays are coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who owns a 288-152 mark in her 14th year at Creighton. Saturday's sweep of Xavier was the 400th of her head coaching career when you include three seasons at Kirkwood Junior College. She and her staff were named the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season last week.
Creighton had five women earn All-BIG EAST honors, including first-team selections Taryn Kloth (3.30 kps., .303%), BIG EAST Tournament MVPÂ Jaali Winters (3.48 kps., 2.84 dps.) and BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke (11.37 aps., 2.75 dps.). Creighton middle blockers Marysa Wilkinson (2.41 kps., .337%, 0.93 bps.) and Lauren Smith (2.25 kps., .345%, 0.92 bps.) were both named Second Team All-BIG EAST.
Northern Iowa dropped a home match in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament to eventual champion Wichita State. The Panthers boast a balanced offense featuring Bri Weber (3.19 kps., 3.64 dps.), Amie Held (3.12 kps., 3.68 dps.) and Kayla Haneline (3.09 kps., .314%), as well as standout setter Heather Hook (11.13 aps., 2.59 dps.) and star libero Kendyl Sorge (5.09 dps.). The Panthers are coached by Bobbi Petersen.
Creighton is 7-41 all-time against the Panthers, but have won four of the past five meetings. With the exception of 2013, the teams have met at least once every season since CU restarted volleyball in 1994, with UNI owning a 4-2 lead on neutral floors.
Thursday will mark the first NCAA Tournament match between the teams.
The winner of the Creighton/UNI match-up will meet the winner of the Kansas vs. Samford match-up on Friday at 6:30 pm Central.
The matches in Lawrence will take place at Horejsi Family Athletics Center on the KU campus.
Creighton (26-6, 18-0 BIG EAST) earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with Saturday's 3-0 win over Xavier, the team's school-record 20th win in a row. Northern Iowa is 24-9 and earned an at-large bid out of the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton swept UNI in Los Angeles on September 2nd in the USC Radisson Classic.
Creighton will be making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history, all in the last seven years. With its fifth straight bid, the Bluejays become the school's first women's squad in any sport to reach five consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Creighton is 5-5 all-time in the NCAA's, including a 2-1 record last year when the team won the Chapel Hill sub-Regional and advanced to the program's first Sweet 16.
The Bluejays are coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who owns a 288-152 mark in her 14th year at Creighton. Saturday's sweep of Xavier was the 400th of her head coaching career when you include three seasons at Kirkwood Junior College. She and her staff were named the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season last week.
Creighton had five women earn All-BIG EAST honors, including first-team selections Taryn Kloth (3.30 kps., .303%), BIG EAST Tournament MVPÂ Jaali Winters (3.48 kps., 2.84 dps.) and BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke (11.37 aps., 2.75 dps.). Creighton middle blockers Marysa Wilkinson (2.41 kps., .337%, 0.93 bps.) and Lauren Smith (2.25 kps., .345%, 0.92 bps.) were both named Second Team All-BIG EAST.
Northern Iowa dropped a home match in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament to eventual champion Wichita State. The Panthers boast a balanced offense featuring Bri Weber (3.19 kps., 3.64 dps.), Amie Held (3.12 kps., 3.68 dps.) and Kayla Haneline (3.09 kps., .314%), as well as standout setter Heather Hook (11.13 aps., 2.59 dps.) and star libero Kendyl Sorge (5.09 dps.). The Panthers are coached by Bobbi Petersen.
Creighton is 7-41 all-time against the Panthers, but have won four of the past five meetings. With the exception of 2013, the teams have met at least once every season since CU restarted volleyball in 1994, with UNI owning a 4-2 lead on neutral floors.
Thursday will mark the first NCAA Tournament match between the teams.
The winner of the Creighton/UNI match-up will meet the winner of the Kansas vs. Samford match-up on Friday at 6:30 pm Central.
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