Volleyball Aims For Third Straight Sweet 16 on Saturday vs. #12 Michigan State

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NCAA Tournament - Second Round
Dec. 2   6:05 p.m.   #12 Michigan State at #15 Creighton (FSGO)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

• No. 15 ranked and No. 9 national seed Creighton (26-6) meets No. 12 ranked Michigan State (22-8) on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CT with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line. The match will air on FOX Sports Go, with Brad Burwell and Jon Schriner on the call.
   The winner of Saturday's match in Omaha will meet the winner of Saturday night's 9 p.m. CT match between No. 8 national seed Washington and Illinois. The CU/MSU winner vs. UW/Illinois victor would play next Friday night at a time and site to be determined.

• Creighton has never played Michigan State, though last year the Bluejays did knock off the Spartans' in-state rival Michigan in the Regional Semifinal to reach CU's first Elite Eight.
   Creighton is 4-16 all-time against the Big Ten, including wins over Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern and Michigan.

• Creighton improved to 9-6 all-time in seven NCAA Tournament appearances with last night's win, including a 6-1 mark in the First Round. Creighton is 2-3 in five previous Second Round matches, including wins over North Carolina (2015) and Kansas (2016).

• Creighton enters 2017 as one of 10 teams in the nation that has been to the Sweet 16 in both 2015 and 2016, a list that consists of BYU, Creighton, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Texas, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin.
   Of those schools, Ohio State is the only team that is not still competing in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The other eight will all be in action on Saturday.

• Creighton's win last night improved the No. 9 national seed to 17-0 in First Round matches in the rally scoring era, including 15 sweeps.
   Since 2001, the No. 9 seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 (or further) 13-of-16 times, including 2011 national champion UCLA and a 2010 Texas team that reached the Final Four. All three No. 9 seeds that did not reach the Sweet 16 lost a five-set match, including Michigan State last year (against Arizona).
   No fewer than 10-of-16 seeds have reached the Sweet 16 in the previous 16 NCAA Tournaments, and all 16 national seeds are still alive in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

• Last night's win also improved Creighton to 2-0 all-time against Coastal Carolina, with both matches coming in NCAA Tournament action (also 2015 First Round).

• Creighton improved to 58-16 all-time when playing as a ranked team with last night's win, which means Saturday will be the program's 75th contest as a top-25 member. Creighton is 22-2 at home all-time when playing as a ranked team.

• Creighton's 26 wins this season its fourth-most ever. Creighton won 29 matches in both 2012 and 2016, and won 27 contests in 2015.

• Creighton is 4-5 all-time against ranked teams in NCAA Tournament play, including wins over No. 16 Iowa State (2010), No. 23 North Carolina (2015), No. 4 Kansas (2016) and No. 17 Michigan (2016).

• Creighton is 6-9 all-time against ranked teams while ranked itself, including a 3-3 record this season (wins over No. 3 Washington, No. 13 Kentucky and No. 7 Kansas.
   Creighton is also 3-0 all-time when both the Bluejays and their opponent are ranked in the top-15 at the time of the match (No. 9 Creighton 3, No. 3 Washington 1 on 8/26/17; No. 7 Creighton 3, No. 13 Kentucky 0 on 9/1/17 and No. 9 Creighton 3, No. 7 Kansas 0 on 9/9/17).

• Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Creighton's 3-2 win at No. 4 Kansas that ranks among the most dramatic in program history. CU won 20-18 in the fifth set to advance to the Sweet 16.

• The turnout of 2,517 fans at sold out D.J. Sokol Arena ranked 10th among the 16 First Round sites. Nebraska (8,213), Wichita State (7,257), Minnesota (4,526) and Kentucky (4,005) led the way, while Creighton's crowd ranked ahead of Florida (2,215), Utah (1,792), Baylor (1,610), Stanford (1,468), UCLA (1,057) and USC (599).

• Last night's sellout crowd of 2,517 was Creighton's sixth-largest ever at home, and the second-largest in D.J. Sokol Arena history. The only previous bigger crowd at Sokol was CU's Sept. 1, 2017 win over then-No. 13 Kentucky in front of 2,578.
   Creighton has attracted 21,931 home fans this season, third-most in program history. Only the 2015 (29,905) and 2007 (24,183) teams have attracted more, and both of those seasons included a match at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
   Creighton is now averaging 1,828 home fans this season in 12 home dates. The only season that's better is 1,860 in 2007 (24,183 in 13 dates). CU can equal or eclipse that mark with a crowd of 2,253 fans or more on Saturday.

• Through matches of Friday, home teams are a perfect 18-0 in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

• Creighton is 11-1 at home this season and has won 10 straight at home.

• Last night's win was Creighton's 35th in a row at home over an unranked team.

• Creighton has won 15 of its last 16 matches this season, and 19 of its last 21. Both losses were avenged with a 3-0 sweep in the next meeting.

• Creighton has won 41 straight matches at all sites when winning set one, and has also won its last 41 matches when up 2-0 in a match.

• Creighton is 80-1 in its last 81 home matches when leading 1-0, and 135-1 in its last 136 matches at all sites when leading 2-0.

• Creighton's 107 wins over the last four seasons are the most by a senior class in program history. That's tied for ninth-most nationally, and immediately behind Stanford and Texas.

• With a win on Saturday, Creighton would improve to 411-311 since its 1994 reinstatement and be 100 wins over .500 for the first time. That's quite the turnaround from the 93-152 mark that Kirsten Bernthal Booth inherited, and low-water mark of 105-170 that CU entered the 2004 campaign with.

• Creighton is 10-70 all-time against ranked teams, including a 10-54 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 2-23 all-time at home against ranked foes, and 2-20 under Booth.

• Saturday will be the 138th match of Marysa Wilkinson's career, tying her with Lauren Smith (2013-16) for most in program history.

• Marysa Wilkinson has played in 106 victories, most in program history. Last night was her sixth NCAA win she's played in, tying her with Lauren Smith and Jess Bird for most in program history. Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth also won their sixth NCAA Tournament match last night.
   Saturday will also be the 10th NCAA Tournament match of Wilkinson's career, tying her with Smith for first in CU history.

• Jaali Winters had 12 kills on Friday, giving her 1,381 in her career. That moves her past JoDe Cieloha (1994-97) for fifth in school history, and just four behind Jessica Houts (1,385) for fourth place. Winters is 13 kills shy of her third campaign of 400 or more kills in as many seasons.
   Marysa Wilkinson moved past former teammate Lauren Smith (2012-16) for eighth in school history and now owns 1,170 career kills. Wilkinson currently ranks eighth with 418 career blocks and could pass Megan Bober (422) and Laurel Sanford (419) on Saturday to move into sixth in CU history.

• Jaali Winters had her sixth consecutive double-double on Friday, finishing with 12 kills and 14 digs. It's just the ninth time in CU history a player has had six straight double-doubles, and first since Michelle Sicner tied Melissa Walsh's school record of eight in a row from Sept. 21-Oct. 20, 2013.
   Winters and Abby Baumann (6 straight from Oct. 13-Nov. 4, 2006) are the only outside hitters in program history with six straight double-doubles.

• Brittany Witt moved over 1,000 career digs on Friday with a match-high 15 digs, giving her 1,012 in her career. She's the 15th Bluejay to ever reach 1,000 digs, and just the third sophomore. She joins Julianne Mandolfo and Kate Elman in that elite group, and Witt, Mandolfo and Elman all attended Omaha Marian High School.

Volleyball Aims For Third Straight Sweet 16 on Saturday vs. #12 Michigan State

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Players Mentioned

Taryn Kloth

Marysa Wilkinson

Jaali Winters

Brittany Witt