Volleyball Closes Non-Conference Play With Illini Classic

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This Weekend's Schedule - Illini Classic
Sept. 14   7:00 p.m.   #10 Creighton vs. Lipscomb   Champaign, Ill. (Huff Hall) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

Sept. 15   10:00 a.m.   #10 Creighton vs. Northern Iowa   Champaign, Ill. (Huff Hall) | LIVE STATS | UNI AUDIO | LIVE VIDEO

Sept. 15   7:00 p.m.   #10 Creighton at #8 Illinois   Champaign, Ill. (Huff Hall) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

This Week
No. 10 Creighton (6-3) closes out non-conference play this weekend when it heads to the Illini Classic in Champaign, Ill.
   Creighton's weekend starts on Friday at 7 p.m. when the Bluejays face Lipscomb (5-4).
   The Bluejays then play a pair of matches on Saturday. Creighton takes on Northern Iowa (5-4) at 10 a.m. before facing tournament host and No. 8 Illinois (8-0) at 7 p.m.
   All matches will take place at Huff Hall (4,152).

Broadcast Information
All three matches this weekend will be webcast by Illinois.
   CU's first two contests will be streamed at no cost at FightingIllini.com/watch. In addition, Creighton's match vs. Northern Iowa will also be covered on radio and on-line by UNI, with a link provided on CU's volleyball schedule page.
   Saturday night's match vs. Illinois will air on BTN Plus and BTN2Go and requires a BTN Plus subscription.
   A link to the broadcast of each match can be found on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.

Live Stats Information
Each match at the Illini Classic will have live stats at http://www.sidearmstats.com/illinois/wvball/.
   Fans can also find the links on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.

Scouting #10 Creighton
Creighton has won five of its last six matches, including touranments in Dallas (SMU DoubleTree Classic) and Omaha (Bluejay Invitational) the past two weekends. It's all part of a grueling non-conference schedule that has all nine opponents to date coming off a postseason appearance, including five national seeds.
   Creighton's best wins include triumphs over No. 5 Kentucky, Iowa State and Wichita State, while the losses have come against Northern Iowa, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 10 USC.
   Three returning All-Americans pace the Bluejays. Senior outside hitters Jaali Winters (3.97 kps., 3.57 dps.) and Taryn Kloth (4.31 kps., .271%), as well as 2017 BIG EAST Libero of the Year Brittany Witt (4.37 dps.) all were named Preseason All-BIG EAST this season. Winters was named MVP of last week's Bluejay Invitational, while Kloth joined her on the All-Tournament Team and had 64 kills in three contests last week.
   Creighton boasts seven newcomers, including four freshmen who were ranked as the No. 10 recruiting class in the nation, in addition to three transfers. One of those is junior Madelyn Cole, a Marshall transfer who leads the BIG EAST with 10.77 assists per set and back-to-back All-Tournament Team accolades.
   Creighton has been picked to finish second in the BIG EAST Conference.
   CU averages 13.91 kills, 1.09 aces, 16.46 digs and 2.41 blocks per set on .221 hitting overall.

Scouting Lipscomb
Lipscomb is 5-4 this season and on a three-match win streak. That includes wins over SMU (3-0), Iowa (3-2), San Diego State (3-0), Xavier (3-0) and Belmont (3-0), in addition to losses versus Arizona (3-0), Pacific (3-1), Louisville (3-1) and Purdue (3-0).
   Carlyle Nusbaum averages 4.39 kills per set and spent time on the U.S. Collegiate National Team in China this past summer.
   Megan Kuper (2.35 kps.) and Morgan Elmore (8.94 aps.) also are key figures on offense, and Lauren Anderson (3.26 dps.) and Ashley Maher (3.13 dps.) lead the defense.
   Lipscomb averages 13.55 kills, 1.10 aces, 13.61 digs and 1.94 blocks per set on .230 hitting.

Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is off to a 5-4 start this season, including victories over then-No. 13 Creighton and No. 5 Kentucky on the opening weekend of the season. The Panthers are 4-0 at neutral sites, and coming off a title at the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge last weekend.
   Junior OH Karlie Taylor leads the MVC with 5.06 kills per set and also averages 2.58 digs. Senior MB Piper Thomas averages 3.21 kills per set on .295 hitting, and also tops the club with 22 blocks. Both women were named First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference and honorable mention All-Americans last fall.
   Senior libero Kendyl Sorge (4.39 dps.) is also back, as is MVC All-Freshman Team honoree Jaydlin Seehase (3.12 kps.).
   This year's squad averages 14.55 kills, 1.03 aces, 17.42 digs and 1.50 blocks per set while hitting .227.
   The Panthers went 27-9 last season, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Minnesota, and was picked to finish first in The Valley this year.

Scouting #8 Illinois
One of nine remaining unbeaten teams nationally, eighth-ranked Illinois has started 8-0 without the benefit of a home match this fall.
   The Illini own wins over No. 25 Colorado State, No. 21 Colorado and No. 13 Washington, and have been pushed to five sets by only Colorado State and Northern Colorado.
   Jacqueline Quade leads Illinois with 4.14 kills per set on .327 hitting, while Ali Bastianelli hits .412 and averages 2.10 kills and 1.38 blocks per set. Bastianelli leads the nation's active players in career blocks (607) and blocks per set (1.58).
   Jordyn Poulter (11.38 aps.) is one of the nation's top setters, and Morgan O'Brien owns a team-high 4.62 digs per set.
   As a team, Illinois averages 14.03 kills, 1.93 aces, 14.10 digs and 2.76 blocks per set on .302 hitting.

Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who is in her 16th season with a 323-163 record. She's led Creighton to four straight BIG EAST titles, and five league crowns in the last six years. Booth led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's (2015, 2016) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year.
   The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only seven NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last seven 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 Angie Oxley Behrens, Craig Dyer and Noel Carpio.

Series History vs. Lipscomb
Creighton has split four all-time matches with Lipscomb, all of which have taken place since 2009.
   After losing the first two meetings, CU has won the past two encounters, including a 2015 Bluejay sweep in Omaha.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-0 against Lipscomb and also 2-2 against LU coach Brandon Rosenthal.

Series History vs. Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa owns a 42-9 record all-time against Creighton, including a 5-3 lead in neutral-site meetings. After winning just three of the first 43 meetings, Creighton has won six of the last eight match-ups in the series.
   Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 9-23 vs. Northern Iowa and 9-23 vs. Bobbi Petersen. Petersen is 30-9 overall against Creighton.
   Five of CU's nine wins against the Panthers have come in five sets. In 51 all-time meetings, Creighton has swept the Panthers just three times, including last season's 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 win in Omaha.
   Creighton's last five victories over Northern Iowa have come in five different states (Iowa, Kentucky, California, Kansas, Nebraska).
   The teams met on the opening day of the season (August 24) in Los Angeles, with the Panthers winning 25-23, 25-22, 25-19.

Series History vs. Illinois
Illinois owns a 4-0 record all-time against Creighton, including a 2-0 mark in Champaign. All four meetings have occured since 2007, with the last meeting coming on Aug. 29, 2015 when the Illini swept CU.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-4 against Illinois, but has not squared off against Chris Tamas.

Winters Earns Defensive Award
Senior Jaali Winters was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday in recognition of her 4.54 digs and 3.92 kills per set last week.
   Winters had a double-double in all three matches, starting with 18 kills and 18 digs against No. 7 Nebraska on Thursday.
   She then lifted a career-high 26 digs to go with 15 kills in a win over Iowa State one night later. Winters' 26 digs vs. Iowa State were the most by a Bluejay outside hitter in one match since October 23, 2009 (Allie Oelke), and were the most by any Creighton player in a four-set match since Oct. 4, 2014 (Kate Elman).
   The Ankeny, Iowa, native closed out her week with 18 kills and 15 digs in a victory over Wichita State.
   Winters was named MVP of the Bluejay Invitational for her efforts.
   This is the second time in her career she's been named Defensive Player of the Week by the BIG EAST (also Oct. 31, 2017), but that's hardly her only league honor. Winters has also been named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week once, was a six-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week in 2015, is a three-time First Team All-BIG EAST selection, the 2015 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament MVP and a three-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team honoree.

Jaali Scaling The Record Books
Jaali Winters continues to rewrite the record book nearly every time she takes the corurt.
   On Sunday vs. Wichita State, Winters had her 90th career match with 10+ kills, breaking the CU mark of 89 set by Leah Ratzlaff (2002-05).
   Winters enters this weekend with 4,257 career attack attempts, just 92 shy of Ratzlaff's mark of 4,349, which should fall this weekend.
   And it remains possible that by the end of the month that Winters will erase another mark once owned by Ratzlaff, with that mark being the all-time kills mark. Winters has 1,531 so far in her career as she chases after Ratzlaff's mark of 1,622.

Winters Is Coming
Jaali Winters enters this week with 1,531 kills, good for third place on Creighton's all-time career kills list. In just three weeks this season, Taryn Kloth has climbed from 17th to 12th. She is likely to ascend another spot or two this week.
Most Career Kills, Creighton History
       Name   Sets   No.   Years
   1.   Leah Ratzlaff   409   1,622   2002-05
   2.   Melissa Walsh   394   1,596   1998-01
   3.   Jaali Winters   411   1,531   2015-Pr.
   4.   Kelly Goc   394   1,414   2004-07
   5.   Jessica Houts   451   1,385   2005-09
   6.   JoDe Cieloha   398   1,375   1994-97
   7.   Leah McNary   458   1,257   2011-14
   8.   Marysa Wilkinson   499   1,183   2014-17
   9.   Lauren Smith   511   1,160   2013-16
   10.   Allie Oelke   445   1,126   2007-10
   11.   Kelli Browning   424   1,104   2011-14
   12.   Taryn Kloth   379   1,088   2015-Pr.
   13.   Amanda Cvejdlik   343   1,029   2005-08
   14.   Shelly Kapler   388   1,000   1996-99

Winters Is Coming, Part 2
Jaali Winters ranks second nationally among active players with both 1,531 career kills and 4,257 attack attempts. She trails only Taylor Louis, who has 1,643 kills and 4,278 attack attempts during her career that started at Marquette and has continued at Iowa.
   Winters' Creighton team met Louis' Marquette team three times in 2015 and twice in 2016, with Winters owning more head-to-head kills (92-79) in fewer attack attempts (237-248).
   Creighton won all five matches.

Non-Conference Rematches?
It's not very often that Creighton plays the same team twice in the same non-conference season, but that's what will happen this weekend when the Bluejays face Northern Iowa for the second time in four weeks.
   UNI will be just the third non-conference opponent that Creighton has played twice in the same season. CU met Texas A&M in consecutive days in 2011, and played home-and-homes with UMKC in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.
   UNI, which swept Creighton on August 24th, is seeking to become the first team to post a pair of 3-0 wins over the Bluejays in the same season since Wichita State in 2007.

Kloth Aces This Test
Taryn Kloth had five aces without a service error in three matches last week, including a career-high four winners from the service line on Sunday vs. Wichita State.
   Kloth has had 91 consecutive serving attempts since her last error, easily the longest active streak on the team, with Samantha Bohnet and Megan Sharkey tied for a distant second with 15.
   As a sophomore, Kloth had a stretch of 140 straight serves without an error.
Top 10 Jays
Creighton Volleyball is up to a season-best 10th in this week's AVCA poll. It's the fifth different time in program history that the Bluejays have spent in the top-10.
   Here's a look at Creighton's all-time top-10 rankings in the AVCA poll:
Rank   Week   W-L That Week
9   8/9/17   3-0
7   8/28/17   2-1
9   9/4/17   2-1
8   9/11/17   0-2
10   9/10/18   TBD

Top 10 Showdown
Saturday night will see No. 10 Creighton visit an unbeaten Illinois team currently ranked eighth nationally.
   It'll mark the third time in program history that Creighton will play in a match involving a pair of top 10 teams, and it'll look to improve to 3-0 in those showdowns.
   Last year on August 26, No. 9 Creighton won in four sets at previously unbeaten No. 3 Washington.
   Two weeks later on Sept. 9, No. 9 Creighton swept No. 7 Kansas. The Jayhawks were also unbeaten.

Can You Dig It?
Junior Brittany Witt and senior Jaali Winters have climbed into the top 10 in Creighton history on the all-time digs chart.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
       Name   Sets   No.   Years
   1.   Kate Elman   464   2,054   2012-15
   2.   Janeen Piller   336   1,392   2001-04
   3.   Allie Oelke   445   1,382   2007-10
   4.   Kailey Reyes   368   1,258   1998-01
   5.   Melissa Walsh   394   1,240   1998-01
   6.   Julianne Mandolfo   241   1,224   2010-11
   7.   Melissa Weisensee   411   1,223   1994-97
   8.   Melanie Jereb   471   1,218   2012-15
   9.   Brittany Witt   281   1,177   2016-Pr.
   10.   Jaali Winters   401   1,150   2015-Pr.

Quick Witt-ed
Brittany Witt has had 10 or more digs in every match this season, and 12 in a row dating back to last season.
   The streak of nine straight matches with 10+ digs to open a season is tied for fourth-longest in program history
   Witt's streak of 12 straight double-figure matches in a row ties the longest streak of her career, and is tied for 14th-longest in program history.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs, To Start Year
   32   Kate Elman   2012
   29   Janeen Piller   (every match) 2004
   27   Bianca Rivera   2007
   9   Nayka Benitez   2010
   9   Brittany Witt   2018
   7   Erin Swanson   1999
   7   Kate Elman   2014

Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
   43   Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
   32   Kate Elman, Aug. 24 - Nov. 30, 2012
   30   Kate Elman, Sept. 30, 2013 - Sept. 12, 2014
   27   Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
   23   Julianne Mandolfo, Sept. 9-Nov. 24, 2011
   19   Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
   18   Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Aug. 28, 2010
   15   Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
   15   Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
   15   Nayka Benitez, Nov. 13, 2009-Sept. 10, 2010
   15   Allie Oelke, Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2010
   14   Mallory Lahm, Oct. 4-Nov. 25, 2005
   13   Nayka Benitez, Sept. 12-Oct. 23, 2009
   12   Melanie Jereb, Oct. 12-Dec. 5, 2014
   12   Kate Elman, Oct. 25-Dec, 11, 2015
   12   Brittany Witt, Oct. 5-Nov. 12, 2017
   12   Brittany Witt, Nov. 25, 2017 - Present

Old MVC Rivals Get Reacquainted
Saturday's match-up with Northern Iowa will be Creighton's 52nd against the Panthers since the program's restart in 1994, the most of any opponent.
   The only other teams that Creighton has played more than 40 times are Wichita State (46) and Illinois State (43).
   UNI is the only opponent to defeat Creighton more than 30 times, something the Panthers have done 42 times.
   Creighton and Northern Iowa have played all but one season (2013) since the Bluejays restarted volleyball in 1994.
   The teams were Missouri Valley Conference rivals who played twice annually from 1994-2012, plus six more MVC Tournament meetings.
   Saturday will mark the sixth non-conference meeting in the last four seasons, and second this fall.
   Creighton is 4-2 against Northern Iowa since leaving the MVC, compared to a 5-40 mark when the two were Valley rivals.

Connections To UNI And The State of Iowa
Creighton and UNI have numerous connections between the two schools and states.
   Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth grew up during part of her childhood in the Cedar Falls suburb of Waterloo, and attended grad school at the University of Iowa. She got her first college head coaching job at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
   Creighton's McCormick Endowed Director of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen is a 1971 graduate of Northern Iowa. He has been at Creighton since 1980, ascending to the Athletic Director position in 1994.
       Creighton men's basketball coach Greg McDermott played (1984-88) and served as a head coach (2001-06) at Northern Iowa.
   Northern Iowa women's basketball head coach Tanya Warren played at Creighton and has spent two stints as an assistant coach with the Bluejays. One of two players in program history with a retired number, Warren played for Rasmussen.
   Creighton Sports Information Director and volleyball contact Rob Anderson worked as Northern Iowa's volleyball SID in 2000 and 2001.
   Creighton's Jaali Winters and Megan Ballenger are both from Ankeny, Iowa, Samantha Bohnet is from Council Bluffs, Iowa and Megan Sharkey hails from Bettendorf, Iowa.

Familiar Feeling
Forgive Creighton's senior class if parts of this weekend make it a little nostalgic.
   The seniors opened their college careers in 2015 with the Illini Classic in Champaign, where it went 1-2 with a win over Miami (Ohio) and losses to Louisville and Illinois.
   In its second college weekend, the quintet went to Cedar Falls where it played Northern Iowa.
   In its third weekend of the 2015 season, Creighton opened its home schedule with a 3-0 win over Lipscomb.
   Creighton will play Lipscomb, UNI and Illinois this weekend in Champaign.
   Since arriving on campus, Creighton's senior class is 88-26 with three BIG EAST regular-season titles, three BIG EAST Confernece Tournament titles, five non-conference tournament titles and six NCAA Tournament victories.

Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Creighton heads into its final three non-conference matches of the season with a 6-3 mark. With a winning weekend, Creighton can pick up eight or nine non-conference wins for the first time since the 2013 team went 9-3.
   Creighton Volleyball went 3-3 against ranked non-conference teams last season. Before last fall, CU had been 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
   This year's club is 6-3 in non-conference play, and 1-2 against ranked teams in the non-con.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year   Non-Con W-L   vs. Ranked Non-Con   Final W-L
2003   3-8   0-0   12-18
2004   8-2   0-1   18-11
2005   6-5   0-3   16-14
2006   8-3   0-1   21-10
2007   6-5   0-3   21-10
2008   3-5   0-3   18-9
2009   3-8   0-3   14-17
2010   5-5   0-1   21-12
2011   5-7   0-1   17-14
2012   9-2   0-1   29-4
2013   9-3   1-2   23-9
2014   7-6   0-5   25-9
2015   6-7   1-4   27-9
2016   6-6   0-4   29-7
2017   7-4   3-3   26-7
2018   6-3   1-2   TBD

Record Crowd
Creighton set an NCAA regular-season record for a volleyball-only crowd on Sept. 6 when it hosted 14,022 fans for its home match against No. 7 Nebraska.
   The total eclipsed the previous NCAA mark of 13,870 that Nebraska hosted in 2009 for a match against UCLA, and also topped the previous record for a Creighton home match of 13,081 set in 2007 when the Bluejays entertained Cal Poly.
   In five all-time volleyball matches at CHI Health Center Omaha, Creighton has played before an average of 11,477 fans.
   Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton and NCAA Volleyball history:
Largest Home Crowds
   Att.   Opponent   Date   CU W-L   Facility
   14,022   #7 Nebraska   09/06/18   L 2-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   13,081   #18 Cal Poly   09/02/07   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   12,112   #1 Nebraska   09/24/06   L 1-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   10,131   #4 Nebraska   09/15/15   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   8,037   #2 Nebraska   10/05/08   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   2,578   #13 Kentucky   09/01/17   W 3-0   Sokol Arena

Largest Crowds (All Sites)
   Att.   Opponent   Date   CU Result   Facility
   14,022   #7 Nebraska   09/06/18   L 2-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   13,081   #18 Cal Poly   09/02/07   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   12,112   #1 Nebraska   09/24/06   L 1-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   10,131   #4 Nebraska   09/15/15   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   8,627   at #5 Nebraska   09/29/02   L 0-3   Devaney Ctr.
   8,277   vs. Montana St.   09/16/16   W 3-0   Devaney Ctr.

Largest Crowds
NCAA Volleyball-Only Regular-Season History
   Att.   Match   Date   Site
   14,022   Nebraska at Creighton   09/06/18   Omaha, Neb.
   13,870   UCLA at Nebraska   09/13/09   Lincoln, Neb.
   13,412   LSU at Nebraska   09/12/08   Lincoln, Neb.
   13,396   Hawaii at Nebraska   10/21/07   Lincoln, Neb.
   13,081   2 matches (CP@CU; PSU-NU)   09/02/07   Omaha, Neb.

More Attendance Notes
How many fans is 14,022? Consider these facts...
- In the five seasons (1998-02) before Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival in 2003, the Bluejays attracted a total of 13,670 fans in 51 home matches, an average of 268 fans per match.
- Last year Creighton's nine BIG EAST peers attracted a grand total of 51,433 fans in 122 home dates, an average of 422 fans per match. Multiply 422 by 33 and you still don't get to 14,022.
- Since Creighton joined the BIG EAST in 2013, no league peer has attracted as many as 10,000 fans in any season, nor averaged more than 845 fans per home match.
- Through matches of September 11, the other nine schools in the BIG EAST had attracted a total of 7,758 fans in 26 home matches.

The Most Through Nine Matches...
Despite playing a postseason team from a year ago in all nine matches to date, Creighton is off to an outstanding start statistically this fall.
   Taryn Kloth's 151 kills and 4.31 kills per set are the most by a Bluejay through nine matches since Alicia Runge's 151 kills and 4.44 kills per set in 2010.
   Madelyn Cole's 377 assists are the second-most by a Bluejay through nine matches since Korie Lebeda's 413 assists in 2006. The only person with more was Lydia Dimke with 379 in 2016, a season that saw her earn BIG EAST Player of the Year accolades.
   Creighton's 487 kills are the team's most through nine matches since 559 kills after nine contests in 2006 back when sets were played to 30 (not 25).
   Creighton's 84.5 total blocks through nine matches are its most since owning 98.0 at this point in 2013. That team ended up leading the nation in blocks per set.

Top 25 History
Creighton is 11-73 all-time against teams in the top-25 of the AVCA poll, but 6-7 since the start of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
   Last year's win at No. 3 Washington was the highest-ranked team that the Bluejays have ever beaten, surpassing a win at No. 4 Kansas the previous December.
   Creighton is 5-29 all-time against top-10 foes (5-22 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).
   Creighton lost its first 31 true road matches against top-25 foes, but has 'improved' to 4-35 after wins in recent seasons at No. 23 North Carolina (2015), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 3 Washington (2017) and No. 7 Kansas (2017).
   Creighton is 64-20 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 7-12 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-0 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10, which will be true again on Saturday when Crieghton visits No. 8 Illinois.
   Since the start of the 2012 season, 27 of Creighton's 48 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 156-21 against unranked teams. Creighton has won 37 straight home matches over unranked teams.
   This is the first time that Creighton has been ranked exactly 10th.

Top 25 Jays
Creighton started the 2018 campaign ranked 13th and is currently 10th.
   This means the Bluejays are in the top 25 of the AVCA poll for the 26th straight week. That streak started on Oct. 31, 2016. Nationally, that's the 14th-longest active streak, as seen below:
Consecutive Active Weeks in AVCA Top 25
   Streak   Team   Current Rank
   530   Stanford   2
   530   Nebraska   4
   447   Penn State   5
   420   Florida   11
   244   Washington   13
   224   Texas   3
   79   Wisconsin   6
   78   BYU   1
   66   UCLA   T-16
   49   Minnesota   7
   35   San Diego   23
   30   Kentucky   20
   29   Utah   24
   26   Creighton   10

Sweep City
Creighton won the SMU DoubleTree Classic by sweeping all three matches from Aug. 31-Sept. 1. It's just the third time in program history CU has not dropped a set while winning a tournament, and first time since the 12th Annual Holiday Inn Classic in 2005.
   CU first did it at the SDSU Invitational in 2004.

How Many MVP's Can They Have?
Creighton has won seven different tournaments since the start of the 2016 season, and had five different MVP's honored.
   Three members of this year's team (Jaali Winters, Taryn Kloth and Megan Ballenger) have won at least one tourney MVP in their careers.
Year   Event   MVP
2016   BIG EAST Championship   Jaali Winters
2017   Husky Invitational   Marysa Wilkinson
2017   Bluejay Invitational   Lydia Dimke
2017   Kansas Invitational   Jaali Winters
2017   BIG EAST Championship   Taryn Kloth
2018   SMU DoubleTree Classic   Megan Ballenger
2018   Bluejay Invitational   Jaali Winters

Kloth Surpasses 1,000 Kills
Taryn Kloth now owns 1,088 career kills after a hot start to her senior season. She's the second active Bluejay to reach the 1,000 mark, as Jaali Winters owns 1,531 career kills to rank third in team history.
   Winters reached 1,000 in last year's opening match vs. Saint Mary's in her 73rd career match. Kloth reached the milestone in her 104th career match, doing so against North Carolina State on August 31st.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Kills (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Melissa Walsh   70   10/15/00   Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters   73   08/25/17   vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff   76   10/22/04   Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha   83   09/13/97   at Drake
Kelly Goc   87   11/24/06   vs. Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts   90   11/08/08   Illinois State
Leah McNary   96   09/12/14   Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik   99   11/15/08   at Evansville
Shelly Kapler   103   11/18/99   vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth   104   08/31/18   vs. NC State
Allie Oelke   107   10/09/10   Wichita State
Kelli Browning   110   10/26/14   DePaul
Lauren Smith   119   10/07/16   at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson   120   09/30/17   at St. John's

15 Not Enough For These Jays
Normally when a fifth set is contested, a team must reach 15 points (and win by two) to earn a victory.
   In both of CU's five-setters on the opening weekend at the Trojan Invitational, that still wasn't enough to decide a victor.
   Creighton lost to No. 10 USC by an 18-16 count in the fifth set on Aug. 25.
   One day earlier, Creighton saved two match points and eventually converted its sixth match point opportunity to take a 22-20 decision vs. No. 5 Kentucky.
   The 22-20 score was the highest-scoring fifth set in program history, eclipsing a 20-18 win in 2016 at No. 4 Kansas and a 20-18 loss to Iowa in St. Louis in 2010.
   Creighton heads into Saturday night's showdown with No. 8 Illinois having played three previous top-10 opponents this fall. All three contests went to five sets.

All Night Long
Creighton played the longest match (by time) in program history on Aug. 25 against No. 10 USC, as its match against the Women of Troy lasted 3:04. That match was so long that it exceeded the length of the Los Angeles Rams preseason game (3:02) against the Houston Texans that was played just blocks away earlier in the day.
   The previous longest matches had been 2:45, done twice in the fall of 2000.
Creighton's Longest Matches (By Length)
   Time   Opponent, Date   Result
   3:04   at #10 USC, 8/25/18   USC 3-2
   2:45   at Indiana State, 10/14/00   CU 3-2
   2:45   at Evansville, 11/4/00   CU 3-2
   2:42   at USC, 9/3/16   USC 3-2

Ranked Pair
August 24th marked just the second time that Creighton Soccer and Creighton Volleyball both beat ranked teams on the same day, as the volleyball team topped No. 5 Kentucky (3-2) just hours before the men's soccer team defeated No. 11 Clemson (2-0).
   The only previous day with both teams taking down top-25 foes had been Aug. 30, 2013, when the volleyball team opened its season with a 3-1 win over No. 13 BYU and the men's soccer team followed with a 2-0 triumph over No. 14 Tulsa.

BIG EAST Honors Ballenger and Hickman
Megan Ballenger was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and Naomi Hickman honored as BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on September 4th.
   Ballenger earned MVP honors at the SMU DoubleTree Classic after helping Creighton to three 3-0 sweeps. She averaged 3.89 points, 3.44 kills and 0.78 blocks per set while hitting .529.
   Hickman averaged 1.78 blocks per set to help Creighton win all nine sets it played. She opened the tournament by tying her career-high with six blocks against Arkansas State, then broke that mark hours later with seven blocks against North Carolina State.
   This is Hickman's first career Player of the Week honor from the BIG EAST. Ballenger was previously recognized as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week three times in 2016.

Service Improves
Creighton had 23 service errors in its season-opening victory over No. 5 Kentucky, including nine errors in 20 attempts in the first set of the season.
   Creighton has minimized such mistakes since then, with a total just 49 service errors in the past eight contests.
   Below is a list of the most service errors in a match in program history:
Most Team Service Errors in a match, Creighton history
SE   Opponent   Date   Aces   Result
25   at Wichita State   9/24/04   5   L 3-1
23   vs. #5 Kentucky   8/24/18   5   W 3-2
21   San Francisco   8/27/10   1   W 3-1
20   Drake   10/10/98   9   L 3-2
18   at Evansville   9/12/98   5   L 0-3
18   Drake   10/8/04   5   W 3-1
18   vs. Miami (Ohio)   8/28/15   7   W 3-2

Special K
Taryn Kloth had a (then) career-high 25 kills in the Aug. 25 match at No. 10 USC. It was two more than her previous best, which was set in 2016 at USC the last time she faced the Women of Troy in the Galen Center.
   Last week, Kloth eclipsed that with a career-best 26 kills versus No. 7 Nebraska, and one night later added 23 putaways vs. Iowa State in just four sets. When Kloth had 26 kills on .400 hitting vs. Nebraska, she became the first Creighton player with 26+ kills to hit .400 or better since Kelly Goc hit .625 with 26 kills on Nov. 16, 2007 vs. Drake.
   Kloth now owns five career matches of 20+ kills, including three this fall, as seen below:
Taryn Kloth -- Most Kills in a Match
       Kills   Opponent   Date
       26   #7 Nebraska   9/6/18
       25   at #10 USC   8/25/18
       23   at USC   9/3/16
       23   Iowa State   9/7/18
       20   at Villanova   10/7/16

25 Kill Duo
Senior All-American outside hitters Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth each had a match of 25 kills on the opening weekend of the season.
   Winters had 25 kills against No. 5 Kentucky on Aug. 24, and one day later Kloth had 25 kills at No. 10 USC.
   In all of last season, Winters (with 28 at Butler) was the only Bluejay performer with 20+ kills in any match last season.
   This year marks the first time since 2000 that multiple Creighton players have had a match with 25 or more kills. In 2000, Melissa Walsh had three matches while Melanie Keolanui did it once. It also happened in 1998 with Walsh (twice) and Shelly Kapler (once).
   CU has never had multiple players with mulitple 25 kills in a match in the same season, which could happen if Winters does it one more time this fall.
   Below is a list of Creighton players with the most career matches of 20 or more kills, as well as 25 or more kills.
Most Matches With 20+ Kills, Creighton Career
   20+K   Name   Years
   23   Melissa Walsh   1998-01
   20   Leah Ratzlaff   2002-05
   17   Jaali Winters   2015-Pres.
   13   Kelly Goc   2004-07
   10   JoDe Cieloha   1994-97
   5   Jessica Houts   2005-09
   5   Leah McNary   2011-14
   5   Taryn Kloth   2015-Pres.
   4   Shelly Kapler   1996-99
   4   Alicia Runge   2009-10

Most Matches With 25+ Kills, Creighton Career
   25+K   Name   Years
   8   Melissa Walsh   1998-01
   6   Leah Ratzlaff   2002-05
   5   Jaali Winters   2015-Pres.
   2   Jessica Houts   2005-09
   2   Taryn Kloth   2015-Pres.
   1   Michelle Prorock   1994-96
   1   JoDe Cieloha   1994-97
   1   Shelly Kapler   1996-99
   1   Melanie Keolanui   1997-00
   1   Kelly Goc   2004-07
   1   Alicia Runge   2009-10

Four For Four For Number Five
Jaali Winters has started each of the last four season openers, becoming the 15th player in school history to start the initial match of the season four times. Below is that list:
Four Opening Day Starts
Name   Years
JoDe Cieloha   1994-97
Melissa Weisensee   1994-97
Shelly Kapler   1996-99
Erin Swanson   1998-01
Kailey Reyes   1998-01
Melissa Walsh   1998-01
Carolyn Decker   2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda   2005-08
Jessica Houts   2006-09
Allie Oelke   2007-10
Heather Thorson   2009-12
Megan Bober   2009-12
Jess Bird   2013-16
Lauren Smith   2013-16
Jaali Winters   2015-18

Regular-Season Tournament History
Creighton is 108-95 in the 69 regular-season tournaments it has participated in all-time, including a 51-26 mark since the start of 2012. Kirsten Bernthal Booth's teams are 88-62 in 54 regular-season tournaments, including 14 titles.
   Creighton had won just two of 16 regular-season tournaments prior to Booth's arrival.
   Last year marked the first time since 2004 that Creighton won back-to-back regular-season tournament titles in the same season (something CU has also done this fall), and was also the first time Creighton has won three tourney titles in the same regular-season.
   Creighton won its first tournament title of 2018 by sweeping all three matches at the SMU DoubleTree Classic in Dallas on Aug. 31-Sept. 1, and also claimed the Bluejay Invitational crowd from Sept. 7-9.

Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including this year's season-opening win over No. 5 Kentucky. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
   On the other hand, Creighton is 323-2 under Booth when it reaches a math 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
08/24/18   vs. #5 Kentucky   16-15, 19-18   22-20

Top 10 Recruiting Class
Creighton's freshman quartet of Keeley Davis, Annika Welty, Jaela Zimmerman and Kari Zumach were named the nation's No. 10 recruiting class by PrepVolleyball.com. That's the highest-ranked class in program history.
   The same organization ranked Davis as the nation's No. 42 recruit, with Zimmerman 49th.
   Creighton has had just two top-50 recruits previously (No. 18 Taryn Kloth in 2015, No. 41 Jaali Winters in 2015) while No. 50 (in 2014) Lydia Dimke went to Purdue for two years before transferring to Creighton.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces at CU
Rank   Year   Player
68   2004   Carolyn Decker
55   2008   Laurel Sanford
60   2011   Michelle Sicner
73   2013   Jess Bird
50   2014   Lydia Dimke*
18   2015   Taryn Kloth
41   2015   Jaali Winters
98   2017   Naomi Hickman
99   2017   Steph Gaston
42   2018   Keeley Davis
49   2018   Jaela Zimmerman
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton

PrepVolleyball.com Recruiting Class Rankings
Year   Rank   Freshman Recruits
2004   Best of the Rest   (Baumann, Decker, Goc, Lahm, Mehal)
2005   Honorable-Mention   (Cvejdlik, Houts, Lebeda)
2006   None   (Bloemke, Schulze, Workman)
2007   None   (Feldman, Oelke, Vrbicky)
2008   Highest Honorable-Mention   (Almgren, Bober, Sanford)
2009   Highest Honorable-Mention   (Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010   High Honorable-Mention   (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011   Highest Honorable-Mention   (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner, Stivers)
2012   High Honorable-Mention   (Elman, Jansen, Jereb, L. Smith)
2013   None   (Bird, Crawford, Foje)
2014   Highest Honorable-Mention   (Lawrence, Tupper, Wilkinson)
2015   11th   (Ballenger, Bohnet, Kloth, O'Connell, Winters)
2016   High Honorable-Mention   (Conlon, Taylor, Witt)
2017   25th   (Gaston, Hickman, Roumeliotis)
2018   10th   (Davis, Welty, Zimmerman, Zumach)

The Gauntlet
Creighton plays five different non-conference teams that were in the top-25 of the preseason AVCA coaches poll. That's tied for the most in the nation, with Northern Iowa, Texas, USC and Wichita State.
   The Bluejays meet up with No. 2 Nebraska, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 10 USC, No. 12 Illinois and No. 21 Iowa State in 2018.
   This is the sixth straight season that Creighton will face four or more non-conference foes that are in the preseason Top 25.
   Of Creighton's 12 non-conference matches this year, all but one (Lipscomb) is against a team that played in the postseason last fall.

European Summer Tour
Creighton got a head start on the 2018 season with an 11-day trip to Europe in mid-June.
   The team played five matches while spending time in Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.
   All 15 members of the 2018 team were allowed to participate, including the seven newcomers.

Ranked To Start The Year
Creighton started the season ranked No. 13 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It's the fifth time in the past six campaigns that CU's been ranked in the preseason AVCA poll, and third straight fall.
   Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the previous 10 seasons, only 178-of-250 teams (71.2 percent) would be in both the preseason and postseason AVCA Top 25 polls.
   Since 2008, all but 25 teams (of 250) named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (90.0 percent).
Creighton's History in the AVCA Preseason Poll
   Year   Preseason Rank   Final W-L   Final Rank
   2013   25th   23-9   NR
   2014   23rd   25-9   NR
   2016   18th   27-9   9th
   2017   9th   26-7   16th
   2018   13th   TBD   ???

Setting The Table
For the sixth time in seven years, Creighton had a different opening day setter.
   The Jays started the season with Megan Bober 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 versus Miami (Ohio) in 2015. Lydia Dimke started the initial contest in both 2016 and 2017, but she has graduated.
   This year Madelyn Cole started the season-opener against No. 5 Kentucky, producing a double-double in the five-set victory.
   The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous six seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and five of them saw Creighton win conference titles. Creighton also won six of those seven season-opening matches.

Select Company
The BIG EAST's Creighton and Marquette are two of 19 teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last six NCAA Tournaments. That group features BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, USC and Washington.
   Creighton is one of 15 teams to win a match in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments. That group includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Washington and Wisconsin.
   Creighton is also one of 18 schools with six straight seasons of 20+ wins (2012-17). That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, UTSA, Washington, Western Kentucky and Wichita State.
   Creighton is also one of just nine schools nationally who have won 23 matches or more in each of the previous six seasons (2012-17). That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
   Creighton is also one of 11 teams to be in the year-end AVCA poll in 2015, 2016 and 2017. That list includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin.

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the first time since Creighton's 2012 season in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Bluejays were not picked to win their league. This year a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Marquette with 78 points and six first-place votes, edging out Creighton's 76 points and four first-place votes. Butler was picked third in the league's preseason poll, with Villanova fourth.       Creighton also had three women named to the 12 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Taryn Kloth, Jaali Winters and Brittany Witt were all honored. It was the second straight preseason honor for Kloth and Witt, and third in a row for Winters.
   Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll in 13 of the past 15 years, including eight 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   1st   - -
2017   1st   1st   - -
2018   2nd   ??   ??

2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 268-10 (.964) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 211-4 mark (.981) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 138-2 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009.
   Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets in 2017 won 97.0 percent of their matches last season.
   Conversely, the Jays are 13-193 (.063) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 13 comebacks in program history 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
10/13/17   Butler   25-21, 25-23, 15-9   Booth

Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 266-29 (.902) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 57-134 (.298) under Booth when it drops the first set.
   Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2017 won just 20.8 percent of their matches last season.
   Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 80-2 in its last 82 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific and on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska.
   Last year's team was 22-0 when winning the first set and 4-7 when dropping the first set.
   This year's team is 3-1 when winning the first set and 3-2 when dropping the opener.
   Dating back to Sept. 22, 2016, Creighton is 44-1 at all sites when winning the first set.

Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 53-29 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. 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 12 of its last 16 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, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016 and 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette.
   It's also worth noting that Creighton is 11-3 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   4-3   29-7
2017   4-1   26-7
2018   1-2   6-3
Total   68-57   416-315

Six Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make six straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

4 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Creighton has won each of the last four BIG EAST regular-season titles. No team had won four straight regular-season BIG EAST titles (including shares) since Notre Dame won seven in a row from 1999-2005.
   Notre Dame had also been the last team to win four or more straight outright BIG EAST regular-season titles, having claimed four in a row from 1999-2002. No team has ever won five straight outright titles, which CU is striving to do.
   The only other team in Creighton history to win four (or more) straight regular-season titles was the men's soccer program, which claimed five straight MVC crowns from 1992-96. All five of those soccer titles were also outright titles.

Back-To-Back-To-Back-To-Back
Creighton won its fourth straight BIG EAST Championship title last year, becoming the first team to do so since Notre Dame won four in a row from 1995-98.
   Creighton (2014-Present), Pittsburgh (1988-94) and Notre Dame (1995-98) are the only four schools to ever win back-to-back-to-back-to-back BIG EAST Championships in volleyball.
   The only five schools nationally to win a league tournament each of the last four seasons are American, Coastal Carolina, Creighton, Denver and Western Kentucky.
   Creighton is 9-1 all-time in five appearances at the BIG EAST Championships, reaching the final each time.
   Dating back to its Missouri Valley Conference days, Creighton has made 15 straight appearances in a league tournament after appearing in just 4-of-9 tournaments prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival.
   Creighton's current senior class is 57-3 against BIG EAST opposition, including a 6-0 mark in league tournament play.

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Taryn Kloth gained valuable experience this summer with the US Collegiate National Team, spending 11 days in China in late May.
   It's the second straight season that Kloth has been part of USA Volleyball, as in 2017 she was part of USA Volleyball's team that went to Minneapolis, Minn.
   Among Kloth's USA Volleyball teammates from 2018 that Creighton will face this season include Madison Lilley (Kentucky), Carlyle Nusbaum (Lipscomb) and Jenna Rosenthal (Marquette).

Marian Pipeline
This is the 16th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as senior Kelsey O'Connell and junior Brittany Witt return.
   Each of the last seven years, Creighton's year-end leader in digs 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.
2018: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
2017: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt
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

Production Returns
Creighton returns 8-of-13 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters and libero Brittany Witt.
   From last year's team, only Marysa Wilkinson, Lydia Dimke, Kenzie Crawford, Jaclyn Taylor (transferred to Nebraska-Omaha) and Brittany Lawrence (graduated and transferred to Northern Colorado) are not back.
   Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat   Returners   Departures
Assists   334 (22.7%)   1203 (77.3%)
Digs   1465 (76.7%)   444 (23.3%)
Aces   123 (80.9%)   29 (19.1%)
Kills   1164 (69.1%)   520 (30.9%)
Matches Started   118 (59.6%)   80 (40.4%)
Points   1428 (68.5%)   656 (31.5%)
Blocks   141 (56.9%)   107 (43.1%)

Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played 14 matches against 2016 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 8-6 against such teams.
   This year's team will play 11 matches against teams that played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, including 7-of-9 opponents so far this fall, and two more foes this week.
   After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 74-93 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
2016   10-7
2017   8-6
2018   4-3
TOTAL   77-128
TOTAL Under Booth   74-93

Lucky Number Seven
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she directed her troops to seven NCAA Tournaments. That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history.
   Booth is one of four head coaches in Creighton history to lead seven different NCAA Tournament teams, and tops among all females.
Name   Sport   NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming   Men's Soccer   11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth   Volleyball   7
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7
Elmar Bolowich   Men's Soccer   6

Climbing The List
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became Creighton Volleyball's winningest coach in the program's modern history on August 26, 2007, and hasn't let up.
   Booth won her 300th match at CU on Sept. 24 vs. Villanova, and now owns 321 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank sixth in school history.
Coach, Sport   Victories
Brent Vigness, Softball   757*
Mary Higgins, Softball   564
Ed Servais, Baseball   517*
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis   427*
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball   327
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball   323*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball   312*
*still active coaching at Creighton

All They Do Is Win
Creighton owns a 113-35 record since the start of the 2014 season. On a national basis, the 113 wins are tied for 10th-most.
Most Wins, Since 2014 (through 9/9)
   Rank   School   Wins
   1.   Western Kentucky   129
   2.   Penn State   127
   3.   BYU   125
   4.   Nebraska   124
   5.   Washington   121
   6.   Stanford   120
   7.   Texas   116
   8.   Dayton   115
       Florida   115
   10.   Creighton   113
       Colorado State   113
   12.   Wisconsin   112
   13.   Minnesota   111
   14.   American   110
   15.   North Dakota   108
   16.   Towson   107

Winters Part Of 1,000 & 1,000 Club
Jaali Winters enters this week with 1,531 career kills and 1,150 career digs. Last year she became the third player in CU history with 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs, and first to get there as a junior.
   Melissa Walsh (1,596 kills; 1,240 digs) and Allie Oelke (1,126 kills; 1,382 digs) previously accomplished the feat.

Last Year Summary
Creighton went 26-7 last fall, winning the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles for the fourth straight season. The Bluejays earned the No. 9 national seed in the NCAA Tournament and hosted for the first time, defeating Coastal Carolina before falling to No. 12 Michigan State in the second round.
   Lydia Dimke, Brittany Witt and Marysa Wilkinson were named honorable mention All-Americans by the AVCA and joined by Jaali Winters as First Team All-BIG EAST honorees.
   Creighton won each of the first three tournaments of the season, picking up wins over No. 3 Washington, No. 7 Kansas and No. 13 Kentucky along the way.

This and That
Amaze your friends and neighbors with these nuggets...
• Last week marked the first time since Nov. 26, 2007 that two BIG EAST teams are both in the top-25 of the same AVCA poll. On that occasion, St. John's was ranked 18th and Louisville ranked 24th. Currently Creighton is ranked 10th and Marquette 21st.
• Creighton has won five sets this season after an opponent owned a set point.
• With two wins last weekend, Creighton improved to 416-315 in program history. It marks the first time that CU has been more than 100 wins over .500, an impressive feat considering the program was 59 matches under .500 before Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival.
• All four of Creighton's seniors will graduate in December.

Volleyball Closes Non-Conference Play With Illini Classic

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Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Samantha Bohnet

Madelyn Cole

Kenzie Crawford

Keeley Davis

Lydia Dimke

Naomi Hickman

Taryn Kloth

Brittany Lawrence

Kelsey O'Connell

Megan Sharkey

Jaclyn Taylor

Annika Welty

Marysa Wilkinson

Jaali Winters

Brittany Witt

Jaela Zimmerman

Kari Zumach