Creighton finished the 2018 season with a 29-5 record, tying a school record for victories.
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
2018 Season Recap
12/31/2018 2:19:00 PM | Volleyball
A comprehensive review of the 2018 season
Download Notes as a PDF
2018 Year-End Creighton Volleyball Recap
The 2018 season saw the Creighton Volleyball program spend 12 straight weeks in the top-10, win the BIG EAST regular-season and Championship titles for a fifth straight year, and finish in the NCAA Tournament for a seventh straight campaign.
Creighton finished with a 29-5 record, running the table in BIG EAST play for the second time in the last three seasons, and compiling a 21-match win streak.
The season started early with a June trip to Europe that saw the Bluejays spend time in Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic while playing five matches and capturing a lifetime full of memories.
After reporting for camp in early August, Creighton started its regular-season with a five-set victory over No. 5 Kentucky at the Trojan Invitational. It would prove to be one of five losses all season for Kentucky, which reached the Sweet 16 after finishing SEC play 18-0.
Creighton's second weekend saw the program win the SMU DoubleTree Classic with 3-0 sweeps over Arkansas State, North Carolina State and SMU in Dallas.
The rugged schedule continued with the home opener one week later as Creighton hosted defending national champion Nebraska before an NCAA volleyball-only regular-season record crowd of 14,022 fans at CHI Health Center Omaha. Creighton won the first two sets over the seventh-ranked Cornhuskers before NU rallied to win the match in five sets.
Creighton would return to campus to host the Bluejay Invitational that weekend, which it won after posting 3-1 victories over regional rivals Iowa State and Wichita State. The momentum continued a week later with sweeps over Lipscomb and Northern Iowa before dropping its final non-conference match of the fall at No. 8 Illinois in the title tilt of the Illini Classic.
BIG EAST play commenced on Sept. 21 with a 3-0 victory vs. DePaul to set up a showdown with preseason league favorite Marquette. CU swept the 21st-ranked Golden Eagles in the first of three meetings vs. MU during the season.
The Jays improved to 3-0 in league play with a five-set win at Butler, then won 15 of the next 16 sets to improve to 8-0 in the BIG EAST. Creighton's biggest scare of the fall in conference action came on Oct. 18, as the Bluejays fell behind 2-0 against Xavier before rallying for a five-set victory to reach the midpoint of the league schedule with a 9-0 record.
The scare seemed to bring out the best in the Bluejays, as CU swept 8-of-9 matches down the stretch to join its 2016 team as the only squads in league history to finish 18-0 in BIG EAST play.
Creighton hosted the BIG EAST Championship for the third time in six seasons. CU swept Villanova before winning a four-set battle vs. No. 16 Marquette to claim a fifth straight tournament title.
Armed with a 20-match win streak and a 28-4 record heading into Selection Sunday, Creighton earned the No. 9 national seed and a chance to host for a second straight season.
Creighton swept South Dakota to tie a school-record with 29 victories before suffering a season-ending loss at the hands of No. 22 Washington. The loss snapped CU's program-record 15-match home win streak, and ended the career of the outstanding senior class of Samantha Bohnet, Taryn Kloth, Kelsey O'Connell and Jaali Winters. Creighton's 111 victories in the past four years ranked tied for sixth-most of any senior class nationally.
Kloth and Winters were both named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, and along with junior Madelyn Cole named All-Americans by the AVCA at year's end. All three women were selected First Team All-BIG EAST, and junior Megan Ballenger was recognized as a Second Team All-BIG EAST honoree.
Winters set 96 school records, finishing her career with marks for kills (1,843), points (2045.5), attacks (5,093) and wins appeared in (111), among others.
Creighton started the year ranked 13th in the preseason AVCA poll, would spend 12 straight weeks ranked either ninth or 10th from Sept. 10 - Nov. 26, and finished the season ranked 13th. CU's 47,632 total home fans ranked eighth nationally, and CU's 2,802 fans per home match was good for 11th. Both figures were school records.
Broadcast Information
All of Creighton's home matches, including neutral site tilts it hosted in the NCAA Tournament and Bluejay Invitational, were video webcast at no charge this season.
Creighton also had three televised home matches, as its Sept. 6 contest vs. No. 7 Nebraska and Sept. 7 match vs. Iowa State both aired on NET, and the Nov. 24 BIG EAST Championship final against No. 16 Marquette aired on FS2.
Exact links to each broadcast could be found on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
For the first time since 2003, Creighton did not air any of its matches on radio as it reallocated those resources to its video platforms.
Live Stats Information
All matches during the 2018 season had free live stats, many via StatBroadcast.com. Exact links could also be found on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton was coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who completed her 16th season with a 346-165 record. She's led Creighton to five straight BIG EAST titles, and six league crowns in the last seven 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 eight 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 was assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Craig Dyer and Noel Carpio.
NCAA Hosts, Again
Creighton hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the second time after earning the No. 9 national seed. Creighton hosted Washington, Saint Mary's and South Dakota, with the Huskies advancing to a Regional hosted by eventual national champion Stanford.
All three matches aired on FOX Sports Go, with Donny Baarns and Shannon Smolinski handling the broadcasts, and John Fanta filling the sideline reporter role.
Creighton's NCAA Tournament History
Creighton made its eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past nine years after earning a seventh straight bid to the Big Dance.
The Bluejays are 10-8 in their eight appearances, and have knocked off the likes of Iowa State (2010), Marquette (2012), Arkansas (2013), Coastal Carolina (2015 and 2017), No. 23 North Carolina (2015), Northern Iowa (2016), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 17 Michigan (2016) and South Dakota (2018).
Creighton is 7-1 in first round play, 2-5 in the second round, 1-1 in the Regional semifinal round and 0-1 in the Regional final round. The Bluejays are 2-2 at home, 6-2 in neutral-site matches and 2-4 in true road matches.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 10-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is the only Bluejay head coach to lead the program into the postseason.
The Great Eight
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has now directed her troops to eight NCAA Tournaments. That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history.
Booth is the second head coach in Creighton history to lead eight different NCAA Tournament teams, trailing only former men's soccer coach Bob Warming.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 8
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
NCAA Tourney Streak
The inclusion of Creighton Volleyball into the 2018 NCAA Tournament extended an impressive streak for Bluejay athletics.
This year marks the 32nd straight academic calendar year that Creighton has had at least one NCAA Tournament team.
History of No. 9 Seeds
The 2018 NCAA Tournament marked the 18th year of the NCAA Tournament in the rally scoring era.
In that time, the No. 9 national seed (such as Creighton this fall) are 18-0 in the opening round with 16 sweeps, with only the 2005 Louisville and 2017 Creighton teams not winning in straight sets (UofL won 3-1 vs. Western Kentucky; CU won 3-1 vs. Coastal Carolina).
Since 2001, the No. 9 seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 (or further) 13-of-18 times, including 2011 national champion UCLA and two other teams (2010 Texas and 2015 Kansas) that reached the Final Four.
No fewer than 10-of-16 seeds have reached the Sweet 16 in each of the last 18 seasons.
Year No. 9 Seed W-L Seeds to Sweet 16?
2018 Creighton 1-1 12/16
2017 Creighton 1-1 11/16
2016 Michigan State 1-1 12/16
2015 Kansas 4-1 13/16
2014 Illinois 2-1 13/16
2013 San Diego 2-1 11/16
2012 Florida State 1-1 12/15
2011 UCLA 6-0 11/16
2010 Texas 4-1 11/16
2009 California 3-1 12/16
2008 Illinois 2-1 13/16
2007 Kansas State 1-1 10/16
2006 Florida 2-1 15/16
2005 Louisville 2-1 13/16
2004 San Diego 2-1 14/16
2003 Nebraska 2-1 16/16
2002 Pepperdine 3-1 13/16
2001 Hawai'i 2-1 16/16
Up To Speed on Seeds
Creighton is one of 12 schools to be a national seed in three of the last four NCAA Tournaments.
BYU, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Texas have been national seeds all four times.
Creighton, Florida, UCLA, USC, Washington and Wisconsin have each been national seeds three times in that span.
Against NCAA Tournament Teams
Creighton went 6-5 against teams in the field of 64, and went 4-3 in seven matches against national seeds.
In 11 matches against NCAA Tournament teams this fall, Taryn Kloth averaged 4.52 kills and hit .297, while Jaali Winters averaged 4.00 kills and 3.07 digs. Brittany Witt averaged 4.50 digs, Madelyn Cole was good for 11.00 assists per set and Naomi Hickman put up 1.23 blocks per frame.
Opponent (National Seed) CU Score
Kentucky (10) W 3-2
Northern Iowa L 0-3, W 3-0
USC (11) L 2-3
Nebraska (7) L 2-3
Illinois (3) L 1-3
Marquette (14) W 3-0, W 3-1, W 3-1
South Dakota W 3-0
Washington L 0-3
Select Company
The BIG EAST's Creighton and Marquette are two of 16 teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments. That group features BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, USC and Washington.
Creighton is one of 13 teams to win a match in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments. That group includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, USC, Washington and Wisconsin.
Creighton is also one of 10 teams to be in the year-end AVCA poll in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. That list includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Creighton is one of 14 schools with seven straight seasons of 20+ wins (2012-18). That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington, Western Kentucky.
Creighton is one of just seven schools nationally who have won 23 matches or more in each of the last seven seasons (2012-18). That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Texas.
Winters Is Coming
Jaali Winters has historically played some of her best volleyball against the best teams on Creighton's schedule.
Winters played in 11 career NCAA Tournament matches, and had 20 or more kills in five of those, which account for the top five single-match totals in CU's NCAA Tournament history.
No other player in program history has ever had more than 17 kills in an NCAA Tourney match.
Most Kills, NCAA Tournament Match
Kills Player, Opponent Date
24 Jaali Winters vs. UNI 12-01-16
23 Jaali Winters at Kansas 12-02-16
21 Jaali Winters vs. Michigan 12-09-16
21 Jaali Winters at North Carolina 12-05-15
20 Jaali Winters vs. Coastal Carolina 12-04-15
18 Marysa Wilkinson vs. UNI 12-01-16
17 Leah McNary vs. Oregon State 12-05-14
17 Alicia Runge vs. Iowa State 12-03-10
Double-Double? Dilly, Dilly
Jaali Winters had double-doubles in both matches of the BIG EAST Championship, and a team-leading 16 double-dips on the season.
Winters played in 11 career NCAA Tournament matches, and delivered a double-double in six of them.
In 11 career NCAA Tournament matches with Winters, Creighton was 6-0 when she had a double-double, and 1-4 when she did not.
Bluejays Collect The Hardware
Creighton had quite a haul of honors as the BIG EAST named its All-Conference Team.
Jaali Winters, Taryn Kloth and Madelyn Cole were named First Team All-BIG EAST, while Megan Ballenger was named Second Team All-BIG EAST.
This was the fourth First Team All-Conference award for Winters, as she joined Doug McDermott (men's basketball) and Tara Oltman (softball) as the only athletes in Creighton history across all sports to be a four-time First Team All-Conference selection. Winters was also named BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Kloth earned First Team All-BIG EAST distinction for the second time in three seasons (also 2016), as she was a Second Team choice in 2017.
This was the first All-Conference recognition for Cole and Ballenger.
Full House
Creighton hosted 2,552 fans at D.J. Sokol Arena in the First Round this year, good for ninth of 16 First Round sites.
The turnout in the Second Round of 2,509 was the eighth-best site nationally.
Combined, the total of 5,061 fans was ninth-most of the 16 host sites.
Creighton averaged 2,802 fans per home match this season, which ranked 11th-best nationally.
2018 NCAA Tournament VB Attendance
Host Team Round 1 Round 2 Combined
Nebraska 8,358 8,382 16,740
Wisconsin 5,453 5,504 10,957
Minnesota 5,101 5,155 10,256
BYU 3,675 5,183 8,858
Illinois 4,002 3,754 7,756
Texas 2,845 3,243 6,088
Kentucky 2,881 2,794 5,675
Pittsburgh 2,807 2,405 5,212
Creighton 2,552 2,509 5,061
Oregon 2,407 2,508 4,915
Penn State 2,247 2,274 4,521
Stanford 2,061 2,104 4,165
Washington St. 1,486 1,762 3,248
Marquette 1,761 1,441 3,202
UCF 1,774 1,207 2,981
USC 914 650 1,564
Bluejay Trio Honored By AVCA
Creighton had three players honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Madelyn Cole, Taryn Kloth and Jaali Winters were all named to the All-East Region First Team.
It was the first honor for Cole, the second for First Team honor for Kloth (who was also Honorable Mention All-East Region in 2017) and the fourth in a row for Winters, which made her one of three athletes nationally with four such honors (Minnesota's Samantha Seliger-Swenson and Nebraska's Mikaela Foecke).
Cole and Kloth ended up as Honorable Mention All-American choices, while Winters was a Third Team All-American for the second time in her career (also 2015). Winters is CU's first player to earn a spot on one of the AVCA's first three All-America teams more than once, and joins Kelli Browning as three-time AVCA All-Americans.
Booth Also Honored By AVCA
Kirsten Bernthal Booth earned AVCA East Region Coach of the Year honors in 2018.
It's the third time that Booth has been recognized (also 2015 and 2016) in the East Region, making her the nation's only coach to be honored three of the last four seasons.
CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
Both Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth were named Academic All-Americans by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Winters was named a Second Team selection after last fall being a Third Team honoree. She was one of five volleyball athletes nationwide to repeat as an Academic All-American, and the eighth athlete in Creighton Athletics history across all sports to be recognized multiple times.
Kloth was named a Third Team Academic All-American.
Both women graduated from Creighton in December in just seven semesters.
Winters Named MVP
Jaali Winters became the first player in more than 20 years to twice be named MVP of the BIG EAST Championship.
Winters, who also earned the honor in 2016, averaged 4.57 kills and 4.71 digs per set to help CU to wins over Villanova and Marquette.
The only other players in league history that have been named Tournament MVP twice are Notre Dame's Jaimie Lee (1996-97) and Pittsburgh's Ann Marie Lucanie, who won four MVP laurels in a row from 1990-93.
5 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2018 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win five straight outright regular-season titles.
No team had won five straight regular-season BIG EAST titles (including shares) since Notre Dame won seven in a row from 1999-2005.
The only other team in Creighton history to win five 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.
5 Straight BIG EAST Championship Titles Too
Creighton won its fifth straight BIG EAST Championship title in 2018, becoming the first team to do so since Pittsburgh's seven straight league tournament titles from 1988-94.
Creighton is the only school in the country to win a league tournament each of the last five seasons.
BIG EAST Champion Roll Call
Creighton Volleyball's title was the 10th different regular-season crown won by the school since joining the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013.
As seen below, half of those titles have been won by the volleyball program.
Creighton's BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles (10)
Baseball: 2014, 2017
Men's Soccer: 2014, 2018
Volleyball: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Women's Basketball: 2016-17 (tie)
What's The Difference?
En route to its league titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Creighton has compiled an 85-5 record in BIG EAST regular-season play. The Jays have won those five titles by a combined 12.5 games over their nearest competitors, meaning if you took the record for the best second-place club each year they'd be 72-17.
First Class Seniors In Every Way
Creighton's senior quartet of Samantha Bohnet, Taryn Kloth, Kelsey O'Connell and Jaali Winters (along with Megan Ballenger, who redshirted and is now a junior) arrived on campus in 2015 as the 10th-ranked recruiting class in the nation, and they exceeded those lofty expectations every step of the way.
They went 69-3 in regular-season BIG EAST play and 8-0 in BIG EAST Championship action, winning all eight possible conference titles in that time. All three regular-season losses were later avenged in the league tournament that same year.
Combined the four seniors contributed 3,314 kills, 2,378 digs, 228 aces and 394 blocks while helping CU to a 111-28 overall record. All four women also graduated in December in four years or less.
As freshmen, they helped Creighton go 27-9 as the Bluejays earned the first national seed in team history, advanced to the program's first Sweet 16, and were ranked 19th in the year-end poll.
As sophomores, Creighton tied a school-record with 29 wins and they became the first volleyball team in BIG EAST history to finish league play 18-0. The Bluejays then became the first team in history to open an NCAA Tournament with three straight five-set wins to advance to the program's first Elite Eight, and wrapping up the year ranked ninth nationally.
Last season, Creighton went 26-7 and hosted the NCAA Tournament for the first time. CU posted road wins over No. 3 Washington and No. 7 Kansas early in the season en route to winning three straight non-conference tournaments.
This year's team tied the school-record for wins with a 29-5 record and won 21 straight while running the table in league play once again and earning a national seed yet again.
Creighton's 111 wins are the most victories in any four-year span in program history. The 69 league wins are the most by any BIG EAST team in a four-year span in conference history.
111 Wins!
Creighton's senior class went 111-28 in the last four seasons. Creighton had reached 100 victories in a four-year span only three times previously, with the previous record being 107 from 2014-17.
Jaali Winters played in all 111 of those wins, most in school history.
Most Wins, Four-Year Span
W-L Years
111-28 2015-18
107-32 2014-17
104-31 2012-15
104-34 2013-16
94-36 2011-14
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
109 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
106 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
104 Lauren Smith 2013-16
102 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
All They Do Is Win
Creighton owns a 111-28 record since the start of the 2015 season. On a national basis, the 111 wins are sixth-most, and CU's .799 win percentage is 10th-best.
Last Four Years (2015-18)
Sorted By Wins Sorted By Win Percentage
1. 124 Nebraska 1. BYU .901 118-13
2. 118 BYU 2. Nebraska .873 124-18
3. 114 Minnesota 3. Texas .870 107-16
114 Stanford 4. Stanford .857 114-19
5. 113 Western Kentucky 5. Minnesota .851 114-20
6. 111 Creighton 6. Florida .844 108-20
111 Penn State 7. W. Kentucky .843 113-21
8. 108 Florida 8. Dayton .811 103-24
9. 107 Texas 9. Penn State .810 111-26
10. 105 Washington 10. Creighton .799 111-28
Ran The Table, Again
Creighton tied the BIG EAST record for the best record in league history with an 18-0 mark this fall, matching the mark first done by Creighton's 2016 club.
Creighton's 18-0 mark in 2016 made CU the first team to finish BIG EAST play unbeaten since Notre Dame went 14-0 in 2009.
Here's a look at the most consecutive wins to start league play in BIG EAST history:
Consecutive Wins To Start BIG EAST Play
Wins School Year Final W-L
18 Creighton 2016 18-0
18 Creighton 2018 18-0
14 St. John's 2006 14-0
14 Notre Dame 2009 14-0
13 Louisville 2007 13-1
Comparing Seasons
Now in its sixth year in the BIG EAST, this year's Creighton team compares favorably with some of its past teams.
The 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 teams all would win the BIG EAST Championship and regular-season league title.
Creighton in BIG EAST Play (League Stats Only)
Year W-L KPS HIT% SAPS DPS BPS
2013 12-4 13.75 .213 1.00 16.20 3.13
2014 16-2 14.09 .242 1.30 17.09 2.86
2015 17-1 15.02 .271 1.33 16.97 2.47
2016 18-0 15.37 .317 1.69 16.08 2.41
2017 16-2 14.81 .302 1.31 16.62 2.05
2018 18-0 14.45 .294 2.13 15.67 2.38
Getting Better and Better
Creighton started 9-0 in league play, but still made huge strides during the second half of BIG EAST competition.
Creighton averaged 14.16 kills, 1.75 aces and 2.27 blocks per set while hitting .268 during the first half of the league slate.
During the final nine conference matches, Creighton was significantly better, averaging 14.79 kills, 2.57 aces and 2.50 blocks per set on .326 hitting.
You Got Served
Creighton had 94 aces and just 84 service errors in its final 13 matches of the season.
The Bluejays had more aces than errors in seven of those contests, including three matches with 10 or more service winners.
Creighton finished with a school-record 204 aces on the season, breaking the previous mark of 195 set in 2000.
Madelyn Cole's 51 aces ranked second-most in Creighton single-season history.
Unbeaten In Conference
There are 32 conferences in the country, and Creighton was one of seven teams that went unbeaten in league play.
Team League W-L Conference
Stanford 20-0 Pacific 12
Creighton 18-0 BIG EAST
Stephen F. Austin 18-0 Southland
UCF 18-0 American Athletic
Kentucky 18-0 Southeastern
Denver 16-0 Summit
Stony Brook 12-0 America East
Nice Work, Ace
In 18 league matches this fall, Creighton allowed three aces or less in 16 of them, and one ace or less in eight of them.
Creighton served more aces than its opponent in 17-of-18 league matches this year. The Bluejays have won 78 consecutive matches against BIG EAST foes when owning more aces than its competition since a Nov. 1, 2013 loss to St. John's.
Sweeeeeeeeeep!!!
Creighton swept 14-of-18 matches at all sites in BIG EAST play this season, and has swept 13 of its last 15 home matches against league foes dating to last fall.
During Creighton's 37-match regular-season home winning streak in league play, the Bluejays have dropped only 14 (of 125) sets at home, with nine of those setbacks coming in set two.
Creighton is 34-3 in set one, 28-9 in set two, 36-1 in set three, 9-1 in set four and 4-0 in set five during that home streak, which means they are 74-4 in sets that they spend at least some time on the south bench.
During this 37-match regular-season home win streak in league play, only one opponent has won more than three sets against CU in Omaha, Villanova (4), while neither Providence nor Marquette have won a set.
In Creighton's 106 all-time regular-season BIG EAST matches at all sites, Creighton is 59-4 in three-set matches, 27-2 in four-set matches and 11-3 in five-set contests.
Sweep, Part 2
Creighton had a school-record streak of eight straight sweeps from Oct. 27-Nov. 23.
Creighton's 25 straight set victories started in the fourth set on Oct. 26 and was snapped in the first set vs. Marquette on Nov. 24. That tied a school-record done just once before, with that being a 25-set run from Oct. 28-Nov. 18, 2016.
Cole Honored For Defense
Creighton Volleyball setter Madelyn Cole was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, league officials announced on Nov. 13.
A junior from Dallas, Texas, Cole led Creighton with 4.00 digs, 10.17 assists and 0.83 aces per set while hitting .400 in a pair of 3-0 wins last weekend. The victories clinched a fifth straight BIG EAST regular-season title for the Bluejays, and the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Championship.
Cole started her week with 32 assists, eight digs, three blocks, two aces and two kills in a 3-0 victory over Georgetown. She then had 29 assists, a season-high 16 digs, three blocks, three aces and two kills on .500 hitting in a 3-0 triumph vs. Villanova.
Cole led Creighton with 1,289 assists and 51 aces.
Attendance Mark Falls
Creighton smashed yet another major home attendance record on Oct. 21st.
CU hosted 47,632 fans in 17 home contests. That obliterated the previous program record of 29,905 set in 2015 over the course of 18 home contests.
Earlier this year Creighton set a program record for the largest home crowd in school history when 14,022 turned out on Sept. 6 to see the Bluejays host Nebraska.
Committee Liked The Jays
Creighton was listed 10th when the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee released a top 10 listing on Sunday, Nov. 4.
The reveal is based on the criteria used to select and seed the 64 teams for the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship and includes strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, and significant wins and losses. It included matches through October 31.
The announcement was part of the continued team evaluations that culminated with the final bracket, revealed during the selection show on Sunday, November 25.
In 2016, the first year of the early preview, nine of the 10 teams in the Nov. 1 rank remained a national seed, with No. 10 Washington moving up to No. 8. Last year's early committee ranking saw 8-of-10 teams hold onto a top-10 ranking, but No. 10 Wisconsin did not end up as a top-16 national seed.
Here's the top 10 that was announced on Nov. 4 this season, and how they fared in the end.
Rank School (Final Seed) 10/31 W-L 11/25 W-L
1. BYU (4) 22-0 27-1
2. Stanford (1) 20-1 28-1
3. Minnesota (2) 19-2 25-3
4. Illinois (3) 20-3 28-3
5. Wisconsin (6) 16-5 22-6
6. Texas (5) 15-4 20-4
7. Southern California (11) 16-7 21-10
8. Penn State (8) 18-4 23-7
9. Nebraska (7) 16-6 24-6
10. Creighton (9) 20-4 28-4
Jays On A Roll
Creighton won 21 straight matches, the second-longest streak in program history, before falling to No. 22 Washington in the NCAA Tournament.
Dating to last season, Creighton has also won 19 straight regular-season league contests, the program's second-longest conference streak ever.
Consecutive Wins (All Matches)
Wins Dates Snapped By
23 Sept. 23-Dec. 9, 2016 at #5 Texas, 3-0
21 Sept. 21 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
17 Sept. 29-Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
12 Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015 at Villanova, 3-2
Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By League
28 Oct. 31, 2015-Sept. 30, 2017 at Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
19 Nov. 18, 2017-Present ??? BIG EAST
14 Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012 Never (left MVC) MVC
Team > Individuals
Creighton didn't have a single player ranked in the top 13 of any statistical category nationally, but was in the top-20 of six different team categories.
Creighton ranked 10th in winning percentage (.853), 10th in aces per set (1.73), 10th in total aces (204), 11th in kills per set (14.31), 18th in assists per set (13.32) and 20th in hitting percentage (.264).
Championship Season
Creighton has saved some of its best work for the months of October and November in recent years.
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton is 54-5 in October, and 55-5 in the month of November.
Since the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is a combined 80-5 in the months of October and November.
What's Your 20?
Creighton reached 20 wins on October 27th with a victory at DePaul, matching the earliest date on the calendar in program history that the team has reached 20 victories.
The 2012 team won its 20th match on Oct. 27, as well. That club finished 29-4, while this year's team finished 29-5.
The Wins Keep Coming
Creighton has won eight consecutive road matches, tied for the second-longest streak in program history and one shy of the current mark of nine done in 2016 by CU's Elite Eight team.
Creighton also set a school-record with 15 straight home wins in 2018. Each of CU's three longest home win streaks in program history have been snapped by a Pac-12 team and been a 3-0 sweep.
Creighton's Longest Road Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
9 Sept. 30-Dec. 2, 2016 at #5 Texas, 3-0
8 Sept. 29 - Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
8 Sept. 28, 2018 - Present TBD
7 Sept. 21-Nov. 9, 2007 at #24 Wichita State, 3-0
7 Nov. 21, 2009-Oct. 2, 2010 at Drake, 3-1
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2015 #4 Kansas, 3-2
10 Sept. 2-Dec. 1, 2017 #12 Michigan State, 3-1
Champions Clash
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton and Marquette are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's reconfiguration in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (6) 97 9 159 46
Marquette (6) 84 21 145 52
Xavier 67 39 101 86
Butler 59 46 108 78
Seton Hall (1) 55 50 100 90
Villanova (1) 55 52 104 84
St. John's 47 59 107 90
Georgetown 27 80 61 121
DePaul 20 86 62 118
Providence* 12 78 54 106
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
Third Set's A Charm
One key factor to watch in 2018 was the result of the third set.
Creighton was 26-0 this season when winning the third set, but 3-4 when dropping the third set.
Since a Oct. 10, 2014 loss at Seton Hall, Creighton is a perfect 81-0 against BIG EAST teams (73-0 in the regular-season and 8-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third set.
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 287-30 (.905) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 59-135 (.304) 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 91-2 in its last 93 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.
This year's team was 24-2 when winning the first set and 5-3 when dropping the opener.
Creighton has won 64 straight matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Ranked vs. Ranked in the BIG EAST
Creighton's two regular-season wins over Marquette this season were the first regular-season BIG EAST match-ups since 2005 that featured a pair of ranked teams.
You'd have to go back to October 29, 2005 to find the last previous time two ranked BIG EAST had faced each other in league play, when No. 7 Notre Dame beat No. 6 Louisville.
The last previous time any two BIG EAST foes faced each other while ranked at any point in time came Nov. 18, 2007, when No. 20 St. John's swept No. 21 Louisville in the title match of the conference tournament.
Creighton's victory at No. 18 Marquette on Oct. 26 was the first road win by any team in BIG EAST play over a ranked league team since 2012.
All-American Efforts
In eight contests this fall against teams who were ranked at the time of the match, Taryn Kloth averaged 4.67 kills per set and hit a robust .271. She averaged 19.25 kills per match against ranked opponents this year.
Jaali Winters averaged 4.24 kills and 3.18 digs per set on .222 hitting against top-25 foes this fall. She had a double-double in seven of the eight matches against ranked teams this fall.
Seven Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last seven seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008, and also reached seven straight NCAA Tournaments from 2010-16.
Jaali Scaling The Record Books
Jaali Winters consistently rewrote the record book nearly every time she takes the court.
On Sept. 9 vs. Wichita State, Winters had her 90th career match with 10+ kills, breaking the CU mark of 89 set by Leah Ratzlaff (2002-05).
On Sept. 15 at Illinois, Winters broke Ratzlaff's school record for career attack attempts.
On Oct. 7 at home against St. John's, Winters took down Ratzlaff's mark for career kills.
On Oct. 12 at Georgetown, Winters broke Ratzlaff's record for career points.
Below is a complete list of all 96 school records owned by Winters at the end of the 2018 season:
Category Type Figure
10+ Kills by a freshman Consecutive Matches 19
Kills in a debut Match 17
Points Served To Start Match Match 11
Attack Attempts Match (5-set) 77
Block Solos Match (5-set) 4
Kills at D.J. Sokol Arena Match (3-set) 23
Kills at D.J. Sokol Arena Match (4-set) 23
Kills at D.J. Sokol Arena Match (5-set) 28
Attempts at Sokol Arena Match (5-set) 77
Kills Match (4-set NCAA) 21
Kills Match (5 set NCAA) 24
Attack Attempts Match (3-set NCAA) 37
Attempts Match (4-set NCAA) 63
Attempts Match (5-set NCAA) 66
Points Match (4-set NCAA) 22.0
Points Match (5-set NCAA) 26.0
Kills Match (3-set B.E. Tourn.) 18
Kills Match (4-set B.E. Tourn.) 19
Kills Match (5-set B.E. Tourn.) 21
Attempts Match (3-set B.E. Tourn.) 41
Attempts Match (4-set B.E. Tourn.) 49
Attempts Match (5-set B.E. Tourn.) 77
Aces Match (3-set B.E. Tourn.) 3
Aces Match (5-set B.E. Tourn.) 1
Block Solos Match (5-set B.E. Tourn.) 1
Points Match (3-set B.E. Tourn.) 19.0
Points Match (5-set B.E. Tourn.) 22.5
Kills by a freshman Season 546 (2015)
Kills Per Set by a freshman Season 4.07 (2015)
20+ Kill matches by a frosh Season 9 (2015)
10+ Kill matches Season 31 (2015)
Kills Season 546 (2015)
Attack Attempts Season 1,428 (2015)
Points Season 595.5 (2015)
Kills at D.J. Sokol Arena Season 249 (2015)
Attempts at Sokol Arena Season 611 (2015)
Points at Sokol Arena Season 269.5 (2015)
Matches Played at Sokol Season 17 (2015)
Sets Played at Sokol Season 61 (2015)
Kills Season (NCAA Tourn.) 79 (2016)
Attempts Season (NCAA Tourn.) 218 (2016)
Points Season (NCAA Tourn.) 86.5 (2016)
Double-Doubles Season (NCAA Tourn.) 3 (2016)
Kills Season (B.E. Tourn.) 39 (2015)
Kills Per Set Season (B.E. Tourn.) 4.88 (2015)
Attempts Season (B.E. Tourn.) 114 (2015)
Aces Season (B.E. Tourn.) 5 (2016)
Aces Per Set Season (B.E. Tourn.) 0.83 (2016)
Points Season (B.E. Tourn.) 41.5 (2015
Points Per Set Season (B.E. Tourn.) 5.58 (2016)
Double-Doubles Season (B.E. Tourn.) 2 (2017 & 2018)
Quickest to 200 kills Career 15 matches
Quickest to 300 kills Career 21 matches
Quickest to 400 kills Career 28 matches
Quickest to 500 kills Career 34 matches
Quickest to 600 kills Career 41 matches
Quickest to 1700 kills Career 128 matches
Quickest to 1800 kills Career 136 matches
10+ Kill matches Career 110
Kills Career 1,843
Attack Attempts Career 5,093
Points Career 2045.5
Kills at D.J. Sokol Arena Career 779
Kills Per Set at Sokol Career 3.86
Attempts at Sokol Arena Career 2,052
Matches Played at Sokol Arena Career 59
Matches Played Career 139
Matches Started Career 138
Points at Sokol Arena Career 856.0
Points Per Set at Sokol Arena Career 4.24
Wins Played In Career 111
Kills Career (NCAA Tourn.) 175
Kills Per Set Career (NCAA Tourn.) 3.98
Attempts Career (NCAA Tourn.) 536
Points Career (NCAA Tourn.) 192.5
Points Per Set Career (NCAA Tourn.) 4.38
Digs Career (NCAA Tourn.) 134
Aces Career (NCAA Tourn.) 7
Wins Played in Career (NCAA Tourn.) 7
NCAA Tourneys Played In Career (NCAA Tourn.) 4
Matches Played Career (NCAA Tourn.) 11
Matches Started Career (NCAA Tourn.) 11
Sets Played Career (NCAA Tourn.) 44
Kills Career (B.E. Tourn.) 117
Kills Per Set Career (B.E. Tourn.) 4.03
Aces Career (B.E. Tourn.) 7
Points Career (B.E. Tourn.) 134.0
Points Per Set Career (B.E. Tourn.) 4.62
Double-Doubles Career (B.E. Tourn.) 6
Attempts Career (B.E. Tourn.) 322
Digs Career (B.E. Tourn.) 107
Matches Played Career (B.E. Tourn.) 8
Matches Started Career (B.E. Tourn.) 8
Wins Played In Career (B.E. Tourn.) 8
Title Matches Won Career (B.E. Tourn.) 4
Tournaments Played In Career (B.E. Tourn.) 4
Onto The Next One
After becoming the Creighton record holder in kills, Jaali Winters continued her onslaught on the BIG EAST all-time kills list. She finished fifth all-time, and had the most kills by any player since the league's reconfiguration in 2013.
The figures were researched by Matt DeMarinis of WhiteAndBlueReview.com, as the league record book doesn't have such a list.
Big East Volleyball All-Time Kills Leaders
1. 2,145 Lola Arslanbekova, Louisville 2009-12
2. 1,976 Stephanie Niemer, Cincinnati 2007-10
3. 1,852 Karin Palgutova, St. John's 2012-15
1,852 Diana Andreyko, Pittsburgh 2004-07
5. 1,843 Jaali Winters, Creighton 2015-18
6. 1,815 Ann Marie Lucanie, Pittsburgh 1990-93
7. 1,801 Marcela Gurgel, South Florida 2006-09
8. 1,774 Abbey Bessler, Xavier 2013-16
9. 1,766 Jackie Ahlers, St. John's 2002-04, 06
10. 1,729 Sarah Katinger, Providence 1998-01
Can You Dig It?
Junior Brittany Witt and senior Jaali Winters climbed into the top five in Creighton history on the all-time digs chart by year's end. Witt is second, while Winters is fourth.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kate Elman 464 2,054 2012-15
2. Brittany Witt 364 1,534 2016-Pr.
3. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04
4. Jaali Winters 494 1,386 2015-18
5. Allie Oelke 445 1,382 2007-10
6. Kailey Reyes 368 1,258 1998-01
7. Melissa Walsh 394 1,240 1998-01
8. Julianne Mandolfo 241 1,224 2010-11
9. Melissa Weisensee 411 1,223 1994-97
10. Melanie Jereb 471 1,218 2012-15
Invincible At Sokol
Creighton's current senior class never lost to a BIG EAST team at D.J. Sokol Arena, going a perfect 41-0 in that span. The Bluejays were 11-0 (including two BIG EAST Championship wins) in 2015, 10-0 in 2016, 8-0 last fall and 12-0 (including two BIG EAST Championship wins) this fall.
Creighton has not lost a home match to a BIG EAST team since Seton Hall upset the Bluejays on Nov. 23, 2014.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton has gone unbeaten at home in league play in five of its last seven seasons (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), including this year.
Creighton is 52-2 all-time (.963) in regular-season BIG EAST play at D.J. Sokol Arena, falling once each to St. John's (2013) and Seton Hall (2014).
Since D.J. Sokol Arena opened in 2009, Creighton is 83-7 (.922) all-time in regular-season conference matches in the facility, including 37 straight victories.
Creighton has won all 11 meetings with St. John's since that 2013 upset, and all 10 encounters versus Seton Hall since dropping the home match in 2014.
The Bluejays have had a winning record in conference home matches each of the last 13 seasons (including 2018). That streak that dates back to its days at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, a facility that was torn down two years ago and no longer exists.
Creighton has not lost an October home match since October 15, 2011 against Northern Iowa, having won its last 29 such matches.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a winning record against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 108 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 20 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
Seton Hall and Marquette are the only league foes to top the Bluejays three times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 11-1 - 11-1
DePaul 12-0 - 12-0
Georgetown 12-0 - 12-0
Marquette 10-2 3-1 13-3
Providence 10-0 - 10-0
Seton Hall 9-3 2-0 11-3
St. John's 11-1 - 11-1
Villanova 10-2 3-0 13-2
Xavier 12-0 3-0 15-0
Total 97-9 11-1 108-10
You Dig?
They say that defense wins championships, and that's certainly proven true for Creighton.
Creighton has won 79 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the dig battle, a streak that dates to Oct. 10, 2014 at Seton Hall.
All but two of Creighton's last 62 matches (against all foes) have been won by the team with more digs, which goes back to Sept. 15, 2017.
Not Half Bad
Creighton has gone 8-1 or better in 10 straight halves (matches 1-9 or 10-18) of league play. Creighton is 49-4 all-time in the first half of BIG EAST play, and 48-5 in the second half since joining the league in 2013.
League Record by Year
Year 1st Half 2nd Half Place
1994 2-8 1-9 T-9th MVC
1995 3-7 3-7 T-7th MVC
1996 2-7 3-6 T-6th MVC
1997 6-3 4-5 T-3rd MVC
1998 2-7 3-6 8th MVC
1999 5-4 4-5 5th MVC
2000 5-4 5-4 T-4th MVC
2001 7-2 5-4 4th MVC
2002 1-8 1-8 T-9th MVC
2003 5-4 4-5 T-5th MVC
2004 5-4 5-4 5th MVC
2005 4-5 6-3 5th MVC
2006 7-2 5-4 4th MVC
2007 7-2 7-2 T-2nd MVC
2008 7-2 8-1 2nd MVC
2009 4-5 6-3 T-4th MVC
2010 7-2 6-3 3rd MVC
2011 6-3 6-3 4th MVC
2012 8-1 9-0 1st MVC
2013 6-2 6-2 T-2nd BIG EAST
2014 8-1 8-1 1st BIG EAST
2015 9-0 8-1 1st BIG EAST
2016 9-0 9-0 1st BIG EAST
2017 8-1 8-1 1st BIG EAST
2018 9-0 9-0 1st BIG EAST
Total 142-84 139-87 --
205 Home Wins
Creighton finished 2018 with an all-time home record of 205-111 record, including a 116-27 mark at D.J. Sokol Arena since it opened in 2009.
The Bluejays earned their 200th home victory in program history on Nov. 11 vs. Villanova.
Creighton was 100-91 all-time at home on the morning of Sept. 25, 2010, but is 105-20 at home since.
Here's a look at Creighton's home record in 25-win increments.
Match # W-L Opponent Date Result
55 25-30 Bradley 10/24/98 W 3-0
105 50-55 Bradley 10/31/03 W 3-2
149 75-74 Illinois State 09/28/07 W 3-1
187 100-87 San Francisco 08/27/10 W 3-1
222 125-97 Bradley 10/06/12 W 3-1
252 150-102 DePaul 10/26/14 W 3-0
282 175-107 Xavier 11/06/16 W 3-0
310 200-110 Villanova 11/11/18 W 3-0
Winters Is Here
Jaali Winters finished her career with a school-record 1,843 kills, after setting the mark in the second set on Oct. 7 vs. St. John's.
Not to be forgotten, Winters' All-American teammate on the outside Taryn Kloth finished fourth on CU's all-time kills list.
Most Career Kills, Creighton History
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
Winters Is Coming, Part 2
Jaali Winters finished the season ranked fourth nationally among active players with 1,843 career kills and second with 5,093 attack attempts. Taylor Louis, who had 1,964 kills and 5,161 attack attempts during her career that started at Marquette and has continued at Iowa, led both categories.
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.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 14-75 all-time against teams in the top-25 of the AVCA poll, but 9-9 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 5-30 all-time against top-10 foes (5-23 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).
Creighton lost its first 31 true road matches against top-25 foes, but has 'improved' to 5-36 after wins in recent seasons at No. 23 North Carolina (2015), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 3 Washington (2017) and No. 7 Kansas (2017) and No. 18 Marquette (2018).
Creighton is 87-22 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 10-14 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-1 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 29 of Creighton's 50 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 176-21 against unranked teams. Creighton has won 48 straight home matches over unranked teams.
Jays To Pirates: "I'm The Captain Now"
Creighton has beaten Xavier 15 straight times, and won 26 straight sets over Seton Hall.
The 26 straight set victories over the Pirates is a record against any opponent, one more than a stretch against Indiana State from 2005-09.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
15 Xavier 2013-Present
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
26 Seton Hall 2015-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
Cole Reaches 1,000 Assists
Madelyn Cole reached 1,000 assists this season in Creighton's 26th match (and her 93rd set) of the fall vs. St. John's on Nov. 3.
She's the ninth player in program history to record 1,000 career assists.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Assists (Career)
Name SP MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 77 23 10/29/05 Missouri St.
Brittany Coleman 86 23 11/01/03 Northern Iowa
Lydia Dimke 88 26 11/06/16 Xavier
Madelyn Cole 93 26 11/03/18 at St. John's
Kailey Reyes 97 27 09/04/99 Boise State
Maggie Baumert 103 32 11/29/14 vs. Seton Hall
Megan Bober 106 28 11/20/09 at #21 No. Iowa
Melissa Weisensee 119 35 09/20/95 Wichita State
Michelle Sicner 267 72 10/04/13 at Butler
Fewest Single-Season Matches to 1,000 Assists
Name MP Opponent Year
Korie Lebeda 21 at Drake 2006
Brittany Coleman 22 at Southern Illinois 2004
Korie Lebeda 23 Missouri State 2005
Brittany Coleman 23 Northern Iowa 2003
Kailey Reyes 23 at Southern Illinois 1999
Melissa Weisensee 23 at Evansville 1996
Kailey Reyes 24 at Wichita State 2000
Melissa Weisensee 24 at Evansville 1997
Kailey Reyes 25 Wichita State 2001
Korie Lebeda 25 Southern Illinois 2007
Korie Lebeda 26 Bradley 2008
Lydia Dimke 26 Xavier 2016
Madelyn Cole 26 at St. John's 2018
Megan Bober 27 Evansville 2010
Lydia Dimke 27 Georgetown 2017
Megan Bober 28 at Northern Iowa 2009
Megan Bober 28 at Wichita State 2012
Michelle Sicner 28 Xavier 2013
Maggie Baumert 32 vs. Seton Hall 2014
Kloth A Senior CLASS Award Finalist
Creighton's Taryn Kloth was one of 10 women who excels both on and off the court that was selected as a finalist for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate volleyball. Kloth was the only finalist from the BIG EAST.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
This year's Senior CLASS Award winner was Nebraska's Mikaela Foecke.
Solid Start In Cincinnati
Jaali Winters was at the service line as Creighton scored the first 11 points of a Sept. 29 sweep at Xavier. Winters had three aces and a kill to help contribute to the hot start.
Per the NCAA record book, it was tied for the third-best serving run to start a match in NCAA history. It's also a Creighton record, besting the mark held by Megan Ballenger vs. Seton Hall in 2016, as seen below:
Consecutive Points Served to Start a Match
No. Player: Team vs. Opponent Date
13 Allison Kearney, Arkansas St. vs. Alcorn St. 09/16/11
12 Katie Bova, Valparaiso vs. IUPUI 10/01/05
11 Kristin Carpenter, Penn State vs. Princeton 09/18/10
11 Taylor Barnes, Baylor vs. Louisiana-Monroe 09/01/06
11 Jaali Winters, Creighton at Xavier 09/29/18
10 Megan Carter, Lafayette vs. Providence 10/15/05
10 Megan Ballenger, Creighton vs. Seton Hall 10/16/16
Top 10 Jays
Creighton Volleyball spent 12 straight weeks in the top-10 of the AVCA poll this season, and has now spent 17 weeks in the top-10 all-time.
Here's a look at Creighton's all-time top-10 rankings in the AVCA poll:
Rank Week W-L That Week
9 12/19/16 0-0 (year end poll)
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 2-1
10 9/17/18 2-0
10 9/24/18 2-0
10 10/1/18 2-0
10 10/8/18 2-0
10 10/15/18 2-0
10 10/22/18 2-0
9 10/29/18 2-0
9 11/05/18 2-0
9 11/12/18 2-0
9 11/19/18 2-0
9 11/26/18 1-1
Top 25 Jays
Creighton started the 2018 campaign ranked 13th and finished the season ranked 13th.
This means the Bluejays are in the top 25 of the AVCA poll for the 38th straight week. That streak started on Oct. 31, 2016. Nationally, that's the 10th-longest active streak, as seen below:
Consecutive Active Weeks in AVCA Top 25
Streak Team Current Rank
542 Stanford 1
542 Nebraska 2
459 Penn State 6
432 Florida 11
236 Texas 5
91 Wisconsin 8
90 BYU 4
61 Minnesota 7
42 Kentucky 10
38 Creighton 13
Double Trouble
Jaali Winters owned 16 double-doubles this season, including one in 7-of-8 matches against top-25 opponents. Winters compiled 58 double-doubles in her career. That ranks fourth-most in program history, and the most by any outside hitter.
Matches With a Double-Double, Career
D-D Name Years Primary Position
65 Melissa Weisensee 1994-97 Setter
64 Kailey Reyes 1998-01 Setter
60 Melissa Walsh 1998-01 Middle Blocker
58 Jaali Winters 2015-18 Outside Hitter
57 Megan Bober 2009-12 Setter
56 Korie Lebeda 2005-08 Setter
Winters Part Of 1,000 & 1,000 Club
Jaali Winters closed her career with 1,843 kills and 1,386 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.
Winters was the only player in the BIG EAST with 350 or more kills and digs this season.
Jays Get New Court
After playing on the same sport court tiled surface since the opening of D.J. Sokol Arena, Creighton Volleyball introduced a new Taraflex® Sports Flooring surface at D.J. Sokol Arena for its match on Sept. 21 vs. DePaul.
Taraflex® floors have been used for the last 11 Summer Olympics, and provides better shock absorption and comfort while preventing both short and long-term injuries, preventing skin burns and providing for optimal levels of sliding while also allowing for easier maintenance.
The new court was paid for by private donations.
Since that court was installed, Creighton went 21-1 at all sites and 13-1 at home.
Any Venue Will Do
Since joining the BIG EAST, Creighton has a .500 record or better (in all matches) at every venue in which it has played a BIG EAST match.
Site Creighton W-L
D.J. Sokol Arena (CU) 76-13
Al McGuire Center (MU) 8-2
Hinkle Fieldhouse (BU) 7-1
Cintas Center (XU) 6-0
McGrath-Phillips Arena (DPU) 6-0
Carnesecca Arena (SJU) 6-0
McDonough Arena (GU) 6-0
Alumni Hall (PC) 4-0
Jake Nevin Field House (VU) 4-2
Walsh Gym (SHU) 4-2
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.
Including 2018, Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 14 of 16 years under Booth, including eight years where it's finished exactly where it was picked.
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 1st #1
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.
- The other nine schools in the BIG EAST this fall attracted a total of 47,821 fans in 119 home dates (402 per match), compared to 47,632 fans in Omaha in 17 home matches (2,802 per match). Multiply 402 by 34 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 18,000 fans in any season, nor averaged more than 1,100 fans per home match for a full season.
Last year Creighton led the BIG EAST in average home attendance in volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, baseball and men's basketball.
Here's a look at the national leaders in average home attendance.
Rank Average School
1. Nebraska 8,205
2. Wisconsin 6,595
3. Hawai'i 5,502
4. Minnesota 5,318
5. Texas 3,631
6. BYU 3,429
7. Penn State 3,346
8. Michigan State 3,069
9. Florida 2,951
10. Illinois 2,856
11. Creighton 2,802
12. Utah 2,638
Quick Witt-ed
Brittany Witt started her junior season with 10 or more digs in each of her first 18 matches, and a streak of 21 in a row dating to last year, before "just" nine digs at Georgetown on Oct. 12.
The streak of 18 straight matches with 10+ digs to open a season was the fourth-longest in program history
Witt's streak of 21 straight double-figure matches in a row was the longest streak of her career, and was the sixth-longest in CU history.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs, To Start Year
32 Kate Elman 2012
29 Janeen Piller (every match) 2004
27 Bianca Rivera 2007
18 Brittany Witt 2018
9 Nayka Benitez 2010
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
21 Brittany Witt, Nov. 25, 2017 - Oct. 7, 2018
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Creighton collected eight 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 was 8-4 in non-conference play, and 1-3 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 8-4 1-3 29-5
How Many MVP's Can They Have?
Creighton has won eight different tournaments since the start of the 2016 season, and had five different women honored as MVP.
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 M. Ballenger
2018 Bluejay Invitational Jaali Winters
2018 BIG EAST Championship Jaali Winters
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.
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
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 minimized such mistakes after that, with a total of just 215 service errors in the last 33 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
*season opener
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.
Kloth eclipsed that with a career-best 26 kills versus No. 7 Nebraska on Sept. 6, 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 also had 26 kills on Sept. 28 in a win at Butler.
Kloth owned seven career matches of 20+ kills, including five this fall, as seen below:
Taryn Kloth -- Most Kills in a Match
Kills Opponent Date
26 #7 Nebraska 9/6/18
26 at Butler 9/28/18
25 at #10 USC 8/25/18
23 at USC 9/3/16
23 Iowa State 9/7/18
23 at #8 Illinois 9/15/18
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 marked the first time since 2000 that multiple Creighton players 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).
This was the first time CU has had multiple players with multiple 25 kill matches in the same season.
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
18 Jaali Winters 2015-18
13 Kelly Goc 2004-07
10 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
7 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
5 Jessica Houts 2005-09
5 Leah McNary 2011-14
Most Matches With 25+ Kills, Creighton Career
25+K Name Years
8 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
6 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
6 Jaali Winters 2015-18
3 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
2 Jessica Houts 2005-09
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 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
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)
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, before graduating.
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 seven seasons (including 2018) ended in the NCAA Tournament, and six of them (including 2018) saw Creighton win conference titles. Creighton also won six of those seven season-opening matches.
The Gauntlet
Creighton played five different non-conference teams that were in the top-25 of the preseason AVCA coaches poll. That was tied for the most in the nation, with Northern Iowa, Texas, USC and Wichita State.
The Bluejays met up with No. 2 Nebraska, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 10 USC, No. 12 Illinois and No. 21 Iowa State in 2018.
This was the sixth straight season that Creighton faced four or more non-conference foes that were in the preseason Top 25.
Of Creighton's 12 non-conference matches this year, all but one (Lipscomb) were 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 last 11 seasons (including 2018), only 197-of-275 teams (71.6 percent) would be in both the preseason and postseason AVCA Top 25 polls.
Since 2008, all but 28 teams (of 275) named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (89.8 percent), including 2018.
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 29-5 13th
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 346-2 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
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 faced this season include Madison Lilley (Kentucky), Carlyle Nusbaum (Lipscomb) and Jenna Rosenthal (Marquette). CU went 1-0 against Kentucky and Lipscomb and 3-0 versus Marquette this fall.
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 346 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth 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*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 346*
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 319* (thru 1/3/19)
*still active coaching at Creighton
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 287-10 (.966) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 230-4 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 157-2 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 14-194 (.067) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 14 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
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
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. The Bluejays have also signed Emily Bressman, and she'll arrive in the fall to continue the tradition.
Each of the last eight 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
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 55-29 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 13 of its last 17 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, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette and a 2018 win at Butler.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 12-3 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 3-2 29-5
Total 70-57 439-317
Production Returns
Creighton returns 8-of-13 letterwinners to the court from the 2017 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 was 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 played 13 matches against teams that played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, going 8-5.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 78-95 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 8-5
TOTAL 81-130
TOTAL Under Booth 78-95
This and That
Amaze your friends and neighbors with these facts...
• Creighton won seven sets this season after an opponent owned a set point.
• Creighton was the only team in the nation to rank in the top-11 in average home attendance in both women's volleyball and men's soccer.
• Jaali Winters played in 57 matches that were either four-set or five-set contests. She had 10 kills in all but one of them, and had nine in the other.
• Creighton owned multiple wins over top-25 teams for the fourth straight season. From 1994-2014, Creighton had a total of three seasons with one ranked win each.
• Creighton's four wins over ranked teams this season were a program record.
• Creighton has played 29 matches against ranked teams in the last four years (going 11-18), including seven matches vs. ranked teams in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and eight in 2018.
• All four of Creighton's seniors will graduate in December.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton vs. Kentucky Volleyball Press Conference - 12/13/25
Sunday, December 14
Creighton Volleyball NCAA Tournament Highlights vs. Kentucky, 12/13/25
Saturday, December 13
Kentucky Volleyball Media Availability - 12/12/25
Friday, December 12
Arizona State Volleyball Press Conference After Creighton Match - 12/11/25
Thursday, December 11
