No. 18 Volleyball Opens 2016 Season at Iowa State Challenge

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This Week -- Iowa State Challenge
Aug. 27   4:00 pm   #18 Creighton vs. Wichita State (KZOT - 1180 AM)   Ames, Iowa (Hilton Coliseum)
Aug. 28   2:00 pm   #18 Creighton at Iowa State   Ames, Iowa (Hilton Coliseum)

This Weekend
No. 18 Creighton Volleyball opens the 2016 season on the road this weekend, as it heads to Ames, Iowa, to play in the Iowa State Challenge.
   Creighton (0-0) opens the regular-season on Saturday with a 4:00 pm match against former MVC rival Wichita State (0-0).
   On Sunday, Creighton faces Iowa State (0-0) at 2:00 pm.
   Both matches will take place at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.

Radio/Video Broadcast Information
Saturday's season-opener vs. Wichita State will not be video webcast by Iowa State, but Creighton fans can listen to the match on the radio. KZOT (1180 AM) in Omaha will carry the match, with Brad Burwell and Rob Anderson on the call. That contest will also be streamed free on-line at http://v6.player.abacast.net/2760.
   Sunday's match at Iowa State will have a video webcast available for purchase at http://cyclones.com/watch/purchase.aspx?Live=32. Sunday's match will not be on Omaha radio.

Live Stats Information
All matches at the Iowa State Challenge will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Creighton Volleyball schedule page for the exact links.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton returns 11 letterwinners and four starters from last year's team that finished 27-9 overall and won both the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles. The Bluejays finished with a final RPI of 14, and an AVCA ranking of 19, after reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time after NCAA Tourney wins away from home against Coastal Carolina and No. 23 North Carolina.
   The Bluejays have made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and are ranked No. 18 in the preseason AVCA poll, the best mark in program history.
   Spearheading the returners is Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Jaali Winters (4.07 kps., 2.49 dps.). Winters was a unanimous pick as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015, when she also took home AVCA Third Team All-American honors, after setting a CU single-season record with 546 kills.
   Also on the outside is senior Jess Bird (2.80 kps., 2.77 dps.), who was also named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Bird was a Second Team All-BIG EAST selection in 2015 and then went on to earn BIG EAST Tournament MVP honors.
   In the middle, Lauren Smith (2.47 kps., 1.27 bps., .343%) was an honorable-mention All-American last year after pacing the BIG EAST in both blocks per set and hitting percentage.
   While much of the offense returns, Creighton did lose all-time digs leader Kate Elman (4.17 dps.), as well as veteran defenders Melanie Jereb (2.16 dps.) and Ashley Jansen (1.97).
   Maggie Baumert (10.96 aps.) graduated after earning All-BIG EAST accolades in 2015, but Kenzie Crawford (8.80 aps., 2.33 dps.) and Samantha Bohnet (4.36 aps.) also earned starts at the setter position last fall and return in 2016.
   Five players could make their Bluejay debut this weekend. Mac Conlon, Brittany Witt and Jacyln Taylor are true freshmen, while Megan Ballenger redshirted last season. Also new to the program is junior Lydia Dimke, a transfer from Purdue who joined the team in the spring.
   Creighton was a unanimous pick to win the BIG EAST, the fourth straight year it's been the favorite in that league after never being picked to win the MVC from 1994-2012.
   Last year's Creighton club averaged 14.01 kills, 1.16 aces, 16.57 digs and 2.39 blocks per set while hitting .248 as a team.

Scouting Wichita State
Wichita State went 27-9 last year and won the Missouri Valley Conference with a 15-3 record. The Shockers reached the NCAA Tournament, where it beat Kansas State before falling in the second round to eventual champion Nebraska. WSU returns four starters (plus its libero) and nine letterwinners from that squad.
   All-MVC picks Abbie Lehman (2.97 kps., 1.11 bps., .423%) and Emily Hiebert (10.43 aps., 2.23 dps.) are both back, as is MVC Libero of the Year Dani Mostrom (4.37 dps.), to highlight the returnees.
   Wichita State went 7-2 in five-set matches last year, including wins against Northern Iowa and Missouri State in the Valley Tournament.
   Wichita State is picked to win the MVC in 2016, and received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.

Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State returns all six starters from last year's team that finished 19-11 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Wisconsin.
   The Cyclones return a diverse offense that includes five women who averaged multiple kills, a quintet paced by Jess Schaben (3.29 kps.) and preseason All-Big 12 picks Morgan Kuhrt (2.55 kps.,) and Alexis Conaway (2.04 kps., .351%). Monique Harris (10.09 aps., 0.36 saps.) quarterbacks the offense, while Samara West (0.85 bps.) topped the team in blocking a year ago.
   Among the ISU newcomers are 2016 Des Moines Register Female Athlete of the Year Anna Kiel and Evansville transfer Genesis Miranda, who set a UE record with 493 kills last fall.
   The biggest loss from last year is the departure of star libero Caitlin Nolan, who had 618 digs and averaged 5.78 digs per set. She was named a Second Team All-American.
   The Cyclones have made 10 consecutive NCAA Tournaments, including five Regional semifinals.

The Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 262-146 record entering her 14th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to back-to-back BIG EAST titles, and three league crowns in the previous four years. Last year, she also led the Bluejays to their first Sweet 16 in program history after winning the Chapel Hill sub-Regional and was named 2015 BIG EAST Coach of the Year and 2015 AVCA East Region Coach of the Year.
   She was also 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 five NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also led the Jays into the top-25 each of the last five 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 is assisted by Ryan Meek, Angie Oxley Behrens and Micah Rhodes.
   Chris Lamb (Sonoma State, 1998) enters his 17th season with Wichita State. Lamb owns a 360-148 record, all with the Shockers, and has led WSU to the second round of the 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments, in addition to a 2012 Sweet 16 run. He is assisted by Sean Carter and Donnie Wallace.
   Christy Johnson-Lynch (Nebraska, 1996) enters her 12th year as head coach at Iowa State with a 228-112 record. She's led ISU to 10 straight NCAA Tournaments, including a pair of Regional finals, An Omaha native who attended Millard North High School and starred at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she is assisted by her husband, Joe Lynch, as well as Dawn Sullivan and Jen Malcom.

Series History vs. Wichita State
Creighton owns a 23-21 lead in the all-time series with Wichita State, including six straight wins, and a 9-3 mark in the past 12 contests.
   Creighton is 3-1 in neutral-site meetings, though the teams haven't met on a neutral floor since the Bluejays swept WSU in the 2012 MVC Tournament final in Springfield, Mo.
   The first set winner of the CU-WSU match has won 22 of the past 27 match-ups. Additionally, Wichita State had won 22 straight third sets against the Bluejays until CU turned the tables and has won the third set in the last five encounters.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 12-13 vs. Wichita State and Chris Lamb, while Lamb is 15-16 vs. Creighton all-time. Of Booth's 12 wins over WSU, three of them have come after surviving a match point for the Shockers.
   The teams have played 11 five-set matches all-time. Creighton has won seven of the last eight meetings to go the distance, and owns an overall 8-3 edge in those contests.

Series History vs. Iowa State
Iowa State leads the all-time series vs. Creighton, 4-3, though the teams have alternated wins in the last four meetings.
   The teams have not met in a match that counted since Dec. 3, 2010, when Creighton made its NCAA Tournament debut with a 3-2 upset of the No. 16 Cyclones in Minneapolis. Alicia Runge led CU with 17 kills in that match, while Nayka Benitez had 34 digs and Megan Bober added 46 assists, 11 digs, six blocks and six kills.
   The home teams have struggled in the all-time series, going just 1-5. Creighton is 2-1 all-time in Ames against ISU, including a 3-1 win on Aug. 28, 2007 in their last trip.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-3 all-time against ISU and Cyclones head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.

Blue-White Scrimmage Summary
Creighton opened its 2016 exhibition season last Friday with a 3-1 victory by the White team in the annual Blue-White Scrimmage. Blue won the first set, 25-17, while White won the last three sets by scores of 25-13, 25-21, 26-24.
   All 15 Bluejays participated in the scrimmage, as well as volunteer assistant Micah Rhodes and former Bluejay outside hitter Lizzy Stivers.
   Ten of the women saw action on both teams as coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth tried a myriad of line-up combinations to help prep her team for the regular-season.

Last Year Summary
Last year's Creighton team finished 27-9 and won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles. Creighton earned the No. 16 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, where it defeated Coastal Carolina and No. 23 North Carolina, to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time. The Bluejays ended the year with a No. 14 RPI and a No. 19 spot in the final AVCA poll.
   Maggie Baumert, Lauren Smith and Jaali Winters were named First Team All-BIG EAST, with Winters also being named a Third-Team All-American by the AVCA, AVCA East Freshman of the Year and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Jess Bird 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, and also topped the club in aces.

Season Opening History
With its 3-2 win over Miami (Ohio) last fall, Creighton improved its record to 14-8 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994. Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 10-3 in opening matches and on a seven-year winning streak. The seven straight wins in season-openers is the best mark in program history.
   Creighton's seven straight wins in season-openers is the longest active streak in the BIG EAST, one more than St. John's.
   Booth is also 11-2 in Creighton's first match away from home, helping Creighton improve to 14-8 in such contests all-time.

Hello World!
Megan Ballenger, Brittany Witt, Mac Conlon and Jaclyn Taylor 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 Purdue in Lydia Dimke'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
2015   Jaali Winters•   5   17   6   49   .224   0   1   14   4
2013   Jess Bird•   4   14   5   29   .310   3   2   12   0
2013   Lauren Smith•   4   9   0   14   .643   0   0   0   4
2014   Marysa Wilkinson   2   5   0   7   .714   0   0   1   2
2015   B. Lawrence•   3   3   2   10   .100   0   0   2   1
2015   K. O'Connell   3   1   0   4   .250   0   0   0   4
2014   Kenzie Crawford   2   0   0   0   ---   1   0   7   0
2014   Lydia Dimke#   2   0   0   0   ---   4   0   1   0
2013   Amanda Foje   1   0   0   0   ---   0   0   1   0
#Dimke's stats are from her debut at Purdue

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. Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015.

No. 18 Is Program Best
Creighton starts the season ranked No. 18 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It's the highest ranking in program history for any week, one spot better than the No. 19 spot it attained twice, including the final poll of 2015.
   Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the last eight seasons, only 144-of-200 teams (72 percent) would be in both the preseason and postseason AVCA Top 25 polls.
   In that same time frame, all but 19 teams named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (90.5 percent).

Iowa Natives Return Home
Creighton has four Iowa natives on its 2016 roster, a group that includes sophomores Samantha Bohnet (Council Bluffs) and Jaali Winters (Ankeny), redshirt freshman Megan Ballenger (Ankeny) and true freshman Mac Conlon (Iowa City).
   Creighton annually played road matches in both Cedar Falls (vs. UNI) and Des Moines (vs. Drake) from 1994-2012 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference, but has played in the "Hawkeye" State just once since joining the BIG EAST on July 1, 2013. That came last season in the UNI Tournament in Cedar Falls, where CU lost to Northern Iowa and No. 8 USC, and swept No. 10 Kentucky.

Coaching Them Up
Should Lydia Dimke, Jaclyn Taylor or Samantha Bohnet begin the match at setter on Saturday vs. Wichita State, it'll be the fifth different starting setter on Opening Day in as many years.
   Megan Bober was CU's Opening Day setter in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. In 2014 Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb, while Kenzie Crawford got the call last fall versus Miami (Ohio).
   Bober owns the distinction of being Creighton's last setter to start consecutive season-openers, having done so all four years from 2009-12.
   The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous four seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and three of them saw Creighton win conference titles. Creighton has also won all four of those season-opening matches.

Select Company
Creighton is one of just 11 schools nationally who have won 23 games or more in each of the previous four seasons. That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Idaho State, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
   Creighton is also one of 23 teams to have appeared in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. That group features Arizona State, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, Miami (Fla.), Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, USC and Washington.
   Throw in four straight NCAA Tournament bids to that group of teams with four straight 23-win seasons and the group narrows to nine teams: That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Washington.

Season Highlights
The 2015 season was one full of highlights for Creighton. Consider the following...
-Creighton won a pair of NCAA Tournament matches for the first time in any year, advancing to its first Sweet 16.
-Creighton defeated No. 23 North Carolina to win the Chapel Hill sub-Regional, its first true road victory over a ranked team in 32 tries.
-Creighton owned an NCAA RPI of 14 in the year-end official rankings.
-Creighton was voted 19th in the final AVCA coaches poll, matching the program's best weekly ranking ever (at the time). It was also the fourth straight season (at the time) CU has been ranked in the top-25 during at least one week.
-Creighton won the BIG EAST Conference, the nation's seventh-best league, by three full games in the standings.
-Creighton won the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship for the second straight year, beating a pair of eventual NCAA Tournament teams in the process.
-Creighton won 22 of its last 24 matches, and was 26-5 after starting the season 1-4.
-Creighton ranked tied for 15th nationally in victories and 20th in road victories last season.
-Creighton was the nation's only team to play five top-11 teams in pre-conference play. No one else played more than three. Creighton's non-conference schedule was ranked as the nation's third-toughest.
-Creighton swept the nation's No. 10 team, Kentucky, on Sept. 5 on a neutral floor.
-Creighton owned eight top-50 RPI wins last season, which was tied for 10th in the nation.
-Creighton owned 11 wins in 2015 against teams that made the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
-Creighton was honored with the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year, while Jaali Winters was a unanimous pick as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
-Kirsten Bernthal Booth was named East Region Coach of the Year, while Jaali Winters was named AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year.

The Road Less Travelled
There were 22 teams that won a conference tournament to earn an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including Creighton.
   Of those 22 teams, Creighton and Wichita State were the only schools that defeated multiple NCAA Tournament teams in a conference tournament.
   Creighton downed Marquette and Villanova, while Wichita State topped both Northern Iowa and Missouri State.
   Creighton was the only team to reach the Sweet 16 that earned an automatic bid after winning its conference tournament.

Automatic Bid x 2
Creighton is one of 11 schools nationally to earn an automatic bid into both the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments. That grouping includes New Hampshire, Dayton, Texas, Creighton, Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky, Colorado State, American, Denver and BYU.
   Of those teams, the only six schools to win a conference tournament in consecutive campaigns have been American, Coastal Carolina, Creighton, Dayton, Denver and New Hampshire.

Back-To-Back Tournament Champs
Creighton won its second straight BIG EAST Championship title in 2015, becoming the league's first back-to-back tourney champ since Louisville won three straight titles from 2008-10.
   Creighton joined Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville as the only four schools to ever win back-to-back BIG EAST Championships in volleyball.

Offensive Production
Creighton ranked among the nation's most potent offensive teams last year. The Bluejays ranked third in the nation in kills, and return 94.7 percent of those terminations.
   Creighton also finished second nationally in assists in 2015, fifth in attack attempts and sixth in digs.

On The Road Again
Creighton will take a five-match win streak in true road matches into Sunday afternoon's showdown with Iowa State. 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-Nov. 15, 2014   at #8 Illinois, 3-0
   5   Oct. 31, 2015 - Present   ? ? ?

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the fourth straight season, Creighton was picked to win the BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.
   CU was a unanimous choice and received 81 points in the poll and all nine possible first-place votes. Marquette was picked second while Xavier, Villanova and Butler rounded out the top half of the poll.
   Creighton also had three women named to the 12 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Jess Bird, Lauren Smith and Jaali Winters were all honored. Winters was 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 11 of the past 13 years, including six 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   1st   - -
2016   1st   ???   ???

The Gauntlet
Creighton's non-conference schedule ranks among the toughest in the nation once again. CU's first seven opponents all reached the NCAA Tournament, including a pair of Final Four teams and the reigning national champion.
   All but one of CU's non-conference foes owned a top-90 RPI last season, and nine of the 12 played in the NCAA's.
   Creighton has three non-conference matches against top-10 competition (No. 1 Nebraska, No. 5 Kansas, No. 7 USC), tying it for second-most nationally, and also plays No. 24 Kentucky, as well as vote-getters Wichita State, Iowa State and TCU. Maryland plays four such teams, while Creighton, North Carolina and Texas A&M meet three top-10 teams each prior to league action.
   Creighton is 5-62 all-time against top-25 foes, including a 1-31 mark in true road matches.
   Since the start of the 2012 season, 16 of Creighton's 31 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 101-15 against unranked teams.

Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 89-84 in the 58 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 32-15 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 the 2014 Bluejay Invitational.
   Creighton had won just two of 16 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival.

Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won eight matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
   On the other hand, Creighton is 262-2 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa and two other match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a 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
11/20/15   at Georgetown   23-24, 26-27 (4th set)   15-7

2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 224-8 (.966) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 167-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own an 110-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in.
   Conversely, the Jays are 12-186 (.061) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, but did have three comeback victories in 2015.
   Those 12 comebacks from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date   Opponent   Sets 3-5 scores   Coach
09/19/97   at Bradley   15-11, 15-13, 15-8   Wallace
10/01/99   at Drake   15-6, 17-15, 15-11   Wallace
09/03/04   vs. Montana   30-20, 30-21, 15-11   Booth
10/15/04   at Bradley   30-22, 30-23, 15-11   Booth
10/15/05   at So. Illinois   30-25, 30-24, 15-8   Booth
09/21/07   at No. Iowa   31-29, 30-26, 15-12   Booth
11/16/12   at Wichita St.   25-16, 25-20, 16-14   Booth
09/05/14   vs. No. Iowa   25-16, 25-22, 15-5   Booth
11/08/14   at Butler   25-16, 25-20, 15-13   Booth
09/20/15   Kansas State   25-23, 26-24, 15-13   Booth
10/09/15   DePaul   25-21, 25-12, 15-11   Booth
11/20/15   at Georgetown   30-28, 26-24, 15-7   Booth

Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 217-24 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 45-122 under Booth when it drops the first set.
   Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 58-1 in its last 59 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific.
   In 2014 Creighton was 20-2 when winning the first set and 5-7 when dropping the opener. Last year's team was 21-2 when winning the first set but 6-7 when it fell behind after the first set.

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
Kills   1779 (94.7%)   99 (5.3%)
Points   2122.0 (90.2%)   231.5 (9.8%)
Blocks   275 (85.8%)   45.5 (14.2%)
Matches Started   132 (73.3%)   48 (26.7%)
Digs   992 (44.7%)   1229 (55.3%)
Aces   68 (43.9%)   87 (56.1%)
Assists   548 (30.9%)   1226 (69.1%)

Winters' Double-Digit Streak
Jaali Winters had 10 or more kills in 22 of her last 23 matches in 2015, including the last 19. That established a program record for a freshman, breaking the mark of 11 set by Amanda Cvejdlik in 2005.
   Winters streak of 19 straight matches is tied with JoDe Cieloha for the second-longest mark in program history, but still well shy of Leah Ratzlaff's school-record streak of 58 that lasted nearly two years.
Consec. Matches, 10 or More Kills, CU Freshmen
   19   Jaali Winters, Oct. 6-Dec. 11, 2015
   11   Amanda Cvejdlik, Oct. 14-Nov. 19, 2005
   9   Allie Oelke, Sept. 8-29, 2007
   8   Melissa Walsh, Oct. 3-30, 1998
   8   JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 2-23, 1994
   8   Melanie Jereb, Nov. 2-24, 2012

Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Kills
   58   Leah Ratzlaff, Sept. 13, 2003-Sept. 9, 2005
   19   JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 26-Nov. 21, 1997
   19   Jaali Winters, Oct. 6, 2015-Present
   14   Kelly Goc, Sept. 8-Oct. 19, 2007
   13   JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 7-Oct. 18, 1996

Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 44-23 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 5-2 mark last year and a 15-6 home record under Booth 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 eight of its last 10 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, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, and a win last year at Georgetown in 2015.
   It's also worth noting that Creighton is 9-2 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   5-2   27-9
2016   0-0   0-0
Total   59-51   355-298

High Five
Last year Creighton rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Miami (Ohio) in its 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 (against Louisville), the first time it had ever played two straight five-setters to open a season.

Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Creighton's 2015 club beat 11 teams that appeared in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
   The schedule figures to be just as daunting in 2016, as CU plays 13 matches against 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifiers.
   After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 52-77 since.
Year   W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994   0-4
1995   0-2
1996   0-2
1997   0-3
1998   0-5
1999   2-4
2000   0-4
2001   1-6
2002   0-5
2003   0-3
2004   2-2
2005   0-6
2006   4-6
2007   4-9
2008   6-8
2009   1-11
2010   4-7
2011   2-6
2012   8-3
2013   6-6
2014   4-5
2015   11-5
TOTAL   55-112
TOTAL Under Booth   52-77

Marian Pipeline
This is the 14th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as Kelsey O'Connell returns and is joined by freshman Brittany Witt.
   Each of the last five years, Creighton's year-end leader in both digs and aces has been a player that attended Marian.
   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.
2016: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
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

No. 18 Volleyball Opens 2016 Season at Iowa State Challenge

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Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Maggie Baumert

Jess Bird

Samantha Bohnet

Mac Conlon

Kenzie Crawford

Lydia Dimke

Kate Elman

Amanda Foje

Ashley Jansen

Melanie Jereb

Brittany Lawrence

Kelsey O'Connell

Lauren Smith

Lizzy Stivers

Jaclyn Taylor

Marysa Wilkinson

Jaali Winters

Brittany Witt