#15 Volleyball Returns To NCAA Tournament To Face Iowa State

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NCAA Tournament Schedule
Dec. 6   4:30 p.m.   Iowa State vs. #15 Creighton   Minneapolis, Minn. (Maturi Pavilion) | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TICKET INFO
Dec. 6   7:00 p.m.   Fairfield at #7 Minnesota   Minneapolis, Minn. (Maturi Pavilion) | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TICKET INFO
Dec. 7   7:00 p.m.   First Round Winners    Minneapolis, Minn. (Maturi Pavilion) | LIVE VIDEO | TICKET INFO

This Week
No. 15 Creighton makes its eighth straight trip, and ninth overall, to the NCAA Tournament this weekend.
   The Bluejays (24-5, 17-1 BIG EAST) will meet Iowa State (17-11, 8-8 Big 12) on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
   Friday's Iowa State/Creighton winner advances to play the victor of Friday's 7:00 p.m. match between Fairfield (24-5, 17-1 Metro Atlantic) and No. 7 Minnesota (23-5, 17-5 Big Ten).
   Saturday's match-up of First Round winners will begin at 7:00 p.m., with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
   Maturi Pavilion (5,700 capacity) in Minneapolis, Minn., will host the action.

Broadcast Information
All matches from the Minneapolis site will be video webcast. All the links are at the bottom of https://gophersports.com/sports/2019/12/2/ncaa-volleyball-1st-2nd-rounds.aspx. If all you want is Creighton vs. Iowa State, go to https://www.btnplus.com/game/ncaa-1st-round-iowa-state-vs-creighton.

Live Stats Information
Links to live statistics for matches away from home can be found on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page. Friday's Creighton/Iowa State match will have live stats at https://www.ncaa.com/game/3909401.
   All Creighton home matches had free live stats at http://creighton.statbroadcast.com.

Scouting #15 Creighton
Ranked 15th nationally, Creighton is 24-5 on the season. The Bluejays won their sixth straight outright BIG EAST title this fall and are 69-3 in the last four years against BIG EAST competition during the regular-season.
   The Bluejays have tied a school record with four top-25 wins this fall, beating Marquette when the Golden Eagles were ranked No. 9 (Nov. 22) and No. 10 (Oct. 12), as well as non-conference wins over No. 12 Kentucky and No. 15 USC on back-to-back days in September.
   With two-time All-BIG EAST setter Madelyn Cole (11.09 aps., 2.62 dps., 0.39 saps.) directing the offense, five women are averaging 1.89 or more kills per set for the Bluejays.
   BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Keeley Davis was a 10-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week and leads CU with 3.28 kills per set. Davis had 31 kills in the win October 12 at No. 10 Marquette, one shy of the school record, to help her earn AVCA National Player of the Week honors on Oct. 15.
   Davis is supported by fellow attackers Jaela Zimmerman (3.11 kps.), Erica Kostelac (2.86 kps., 0.39 saps.), Megan Ballenger (2.13 kps., .308%, 0.98 bps.) and Naomi Hickman (1.89 kps., .298%., 0.95 bps.). Zimmerman was named MVP of the Creighton Classic on Sept. 21, while Hickman was named MVP of the UNI Tournament on Sept. 7.
   Senior Brittany Witt (5.09 dps.) anchors the defense and leads the BIG EAST in digs per set. She was named BIG EAST Libero of the Year for the second time last month and enters this weekend 16 digs away from Kate Elman's school record of 2,054.
   Creighton averages 14.09 kills, 15.48 digs, 2.15 blocks and 1.75 aces per set on .250 hitting.

Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State is 17-11 this season and in the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in the past 14 seasons. The Cyclones were 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference and are 6-1 on neutral floors this fall.
   Eleanor Holthaus (3.24 kps., 2.36 dps., .255%), Annie Hatch (2.80 kps.) and Josie Herbst (2.45 kps.) top the offensive attack.
   Piper Mauck (10.36 aps., 2.58 dps.) handles the setting duties, and Izzy Enna (3.22 dps.) paces the club in digs.
   The Cyclones average 13.62 kills, 1.36 aces, 15.46 digs and 2.17 blocks per set on .238 hitting.

Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 370-170 record in her 17th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to six straight outright BIG EAST titles, and seven league crowns in the last eight 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. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019.
   The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only nine NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last eight 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. Iowa State
Creighton and Iowa State have split 10 all-time meetings, but CU has won three of the past four.
   The home team is just 2-6 all-time in the series, and the teams have split a pair of neutral site meetings.
   The teams have played four sets or more in each of the last six meetings.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 4-4 all-time against ISU and Cyclone head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.
   Creighton owns 10 all-time NCAA Tournament wins, with the first one coming in five sets over Iowa State in 2010 in Minneapolis.
Scrimmage Recap
Creighton and Iowa State met in a scrimmage on August 23rd in Ames. Iowa State won the first three sets by scores of 26-24, 25-19 and 25-21 before CU rallied to win the final two sets 25-22 and 15-11. The programs had agreed before the match to play five sets no matter what, rather than the traditional best-of-five format, to allow as many players and line-ups as possible to be utilized in preparation for the regular-season.
   Creighton looked to take a 23-20 lead in the first set before a replay review overturn trimmed CU's lead to 22-21. The Cyclones would use that momentum to take a close first set. Creighton overcame a 15-7 margin in the fourth set to take a 20-19 lead and held off ISU for the 25-22 victory.
   The Bluejays bolted to a 3-0 lead and never trailed in the fifth set.
   Stats for the scrimmage were not disclosed.

Creighton's NCAA Tournament History
Creighton is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past 10 years after earning an eighth straight bid to the Big Dance.
   The Bluejays are 10-8 in eight previous 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.
   Creighton is 1-0 all-time in the NCAA Tournament against Iowa State, beating the Cyclones in five sets in 2010 in Minneapolis. CU lost Second Round matches to Minnesota in Minneapolis in both 2010 and 2012. CU has never met Fairfield.
   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.

A Rematch of 2010 CU's NCAA Debut
This past Tuesday (Dec. 3) marked the nine year anniversary of Creighton Volleyball's first NCAA Tournament match in program history, a 3-2 win over No. 16 Iowa State that took place in Minneapolis.
   The same two programs will meet on Friday, again in Minneapolis.
   Here's a recap from that 2010 meeting:
   The first NCAA Tournament volleyball match in Creighton history was one for the ages, as the Bluejays used career-nights from Karisa Almgren and Heather Thorson to post a 3-2 victory over No. 16 Iowa State. Scores of the match, played at the University of Minnesota's Sports Pavilion, favored Creighton 27-25, 16-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-11.
   The fifth set featured five ties and five lead changes before Creighton pulled away midway through. Trailing 6-5, Creighton scored three straight points on a kill from Megan Bober and consecutive attack errors by Victoria Henson. Creighton would build its lead to 12-8 on back-to-back Alicia Runge kills, then got to match point on an Almgren kill off the block. Sanford, a Minnesota native, ended the upset with a tip kill over the Cyclone block.
   Creighton was paced by 17 kills from Runge, while Almgren (14 kills) and Thorson (12 kills) both had career nights offensively. Nayka Benitez had 34 digs, while Bober and Sanford each had seven blocks for the Jays.
   Iowa State was led by 26 kills by All-American Henson, while Carly Jenson (17) and Jamie Straube (12) also had big nights. Three 'Clones had 20 or more digs, led by 35 from All-American Ashley Mass.

With a Win...
With a win on Friday, Creighton would...
-Improve to 25-5 with its 20th win in its last 22 tries, and 25th win in its last 28 contests.
- Improve to 11-8 all-time in nine NCAA Tournament appearances, including a 8-1 mark in the First Round.
- Win an NCAA Tournament match for the fifth straight season.
- Improve to 2-0 all-time in the NCAA Tournament vs. Iowa State, with both matches taking place in the first round in Minneapolis (also 2010).
-Improve to 46-2 in its last 48 matches against unranked teams at all sites.
- Kirsten Bernthal Booth would improve to 371-170 in her career, and 11-8 in the NCAA Tournament.
-Clinch a sixth straight season with 25+ wins. Nationally, only Creighton (currently 24-5), BYU (currently 25-4) and Florida (currently 25-4) have had 25+ wins every season from 2014-18.
- Advance to Saturday's 7 p.m. Second Round match-up against the winner of Friday's 7:00 p.m. Fairfield/Minnesota tussle.

Eight Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last eight seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
   The only other sport in Creighton history to make eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.

9 Out Of 110
Creighton, Iowa State and Minnesota are three of 18 schools that has appeared in nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments.
   Colorado State, Florida State, Florida, Hawai'i, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, USC and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since 2010.
   Among the teams that have appeared in nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments are Creighton, Iowa State, Marquette, Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue.
   Just missing the cut with "only" eight NCAA trips in the past 10 years are American, BYU, Dayton, Illinois, Louisville, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Oregon, UCLA and Western Kentucky.

Nine Is Fine
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has now directed her troops to nine 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 nine 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   9
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7

NCAA Tourney Streak
The inclusion of Creighton Volleyball into the 2019 NCAA Tournament extended an impressive streak for Bluejay athletics.
   This year marks the 33rd straight academic calendar year that Creighton has had at least one NCAA Tournament team.

They Keep On Winning
Creighton is one of 13 teams to win a match in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments (2015-18). That group includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, USC, Washington and Wisconsin.

Five For Fighting
Creighton is a perfect 4-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches to go five sets.
   Creighton beat Iowa State in 2010 (15-11 in set 5) in the First Round.
   In 2016, Creighton became the only program ever to win three consecutive five-set matches to open the NCAA Tournament, knocking off Northern Iowa (15-12), No. 4 Kansas (20-18) and No. 17 Michigan (15-7).
   This year's Creighton team is 2-0 in the fifth set.

History of No. 7 Seeds
The 2019 NCAA Tournament marks the 19th year of the NCAA Tournament in the rally scoring era.
   In that time, the No. 7 national seed (such as Minnesota this fall) are 18-0 in the opening round with 17 sweeps, with only the 2002 Minnesota team not winning in straight sets (Minnesota won 3-1 over New Hampshire).
   Since 2001, the No. 7 seed has advanced to the Sweet 16 (or further) 16-of-18 times, including four teams that reached the Final Four (2004 Washington and 2011 USC were semifinalists; 2010 California and 2018 Nebraska were runner-ups).
   No fewer than 10-of-16 seeds have reached the Sweet 16 in each of the last 18 seasons.
Year   No. 7 Seed   W-L   Seeds to Sweet 16?
2018   Nebraska   5-1   12/16
2017   Minnesota   2-1   11/16
2016   North Carolina   2-1   12/16
2015   Penn State   2-1   13/16
2014   North Carolina   3-1   13/16
2013   Stanford   3-1   11/16
2012   UCLA   1-1   12/15
2011   USC   4-1   11/16
2010   California   5-1   11/16
2009   Iowa State   2-1   12/16
2008   Hawaii   3-1   13/16
2007   Wisconsin   1-1   10/16
2006   Texas   3-1   15/16
2005   Hawaii   2-1   13/16
2004   Washington   4-1   14/16
2003   Georgia Tech   3-1   16/16
2002   Minnesota   2-1   13/16
2001   Pepperdine   2-1   16/16

Hosting Is Overrated
For whatever reason, the team to host Creighton's First/Second Round sites has failed to advance to the Regional Round in each of the past four seasons.
   In 2015, Creighton advanced out of Chapel Hill, N.C.. One year later, CU advanced out of Lawrence, Kan.
   In 2017, Michigan State upset host Creighton and last year it was Washington to knock out the host Bluejays.
   Since the start of 2015, there have been 11 teams involved in multiple first weekend sites where the host didn't advance. Creighton's been a part of four such upsets, while Coastal Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, Missouri State, Samford and Washington have been a part of two each.

Up To Speed on Seeds
Though they aren't a seed this fall, Creighton is one of 13 schools to be a national seed in three of the last five NCAA Tournaments.
   BYU, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Texas have been national seeds all five times.
   Florida, Washington and Wisconsin have been a national seed four of those five years.
   Creighton, Kentucky, UCLA, and USC have each been national seeds three times in that span.

Common Opponents
Creighton and Iowa State share two common opponents this season, Baylor and Northern Iowa.
   Creighton is 1-1 against the Bears and Panthers, while Iowa State was 1-2.
Opponent   CU Score   ISU Score
Baylor   L 0-3   L 0-3
       L 0-3
Northern Iowa   W 3-2   W 3-1

Against NCAA Tournament Teams
Creighton went 7-4 against teams in the field of 64, going 1-3 in four matches against national seeds.
   Iowa State went 2-7 against NCAA-bound squads, and 0-5 against national seeds.
   In 11 matches against NCAA Tournament teams this fall, Keeley Davis has averaged 3.26 kills per set, with Jaela Zimmerman (2.79 kps.) and Erica Kostelac (2.74 kps.) not far behind. Madelyn Cole has averaged 11.24 assists per set, and Naomi Hickman averages 2.00 kills and 1.14 blocks per set on .359 hitting. Defensively, Brittany Witt has averaged 5.21 digs per set.
Results vs. 2019 NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Opponent   CU Score   ISU Score
Baylor   L 0-3   L 0-3
Baylor   -   L 0-3
Kentucky   W 3-1   -
Marquette   W 3-2   -
Marquette   W 3-1   -
Nebraska   L 1-3   -
Northern Iowa   W 3-2   W 3-1
Oklahoma   -   L 1-3
Oklahoma   -   W 3-1
Penn State   -   L 0-3
St. John's   W 3-0   -
St. John's   W 3-0   -
St. John's   L 0-3   -
Texas   -   L 1-3
Texas   -   L 1-3
UCF   -   L 2-3
USC   W 3-1   -
Washington   L 1-3   -

Can You Dig It?
Senior Brittany Witt ranks second in Creighton history on the all-time digs chart as she continues her pursuit of predecessor Kate Elman's record of 2,054.
   Witt, who is 16 digs shy of tying Elman's record, owns 61 matches in her career of 16 digs or more, including 16 times this fall. She has averaged 15.44 digs per match in her career.
   Witt is already the only player in CU history with 500 or more digs in four different seasons.
Most Career Digs, Creighton History
       Name   Sets   No.   Years
   1.   Kate Elman   464   2,054   2012-15
   2.   Brittany Witt   463   2,038   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 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2019 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win six straight outright regular-season titles.
   No team had won six straight regular-season BIG EAST titles (including shares) since Notre Dame won seven in a row from 1999-2005, though the Irish shared the title in 2003 (with Pittsburgh) and 2005 (with Louisville)
   The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win six or more consecutive league titles, breaking a tie it had held with the men's soccer program (1992-96).

Title Hunting
This fall Creighton Volleyball won the school's 12th 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 (12)
Baseball: 2014, 2017, 2019
Men's Soccer: 2014, 2018
Volleyball: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Women's Basketball: 2016-17 (tie)

Bluejays Collect The Hardware
Creighton had quite a haul of honors as the BIG EAST named five Bluejays to its 18-woman All-Conference Team on Nov. 26.
   Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole, Keeley Davis, Brittany Witt and Jaela Zimmerman were all among those recognized.
   This is the second First Team All-Conference award for both Cole (2018, 2019) and Witt (2017, 2019).
   Witt was also honored as BIG EAST Libero of the Year for the second time in three seasons (also 2017).
   Davis was a unanimous selection as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
   In addition, Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Angie Oxley Behrens, Craig Dyer and Noel Carpio were named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. It's the third time Booth has been honored (2015, 2016, 2019).

Hickman A Human Wall
Junior Naomi Hickman had 10 blocks in each of Creighton's matches to close the regular-season. She's the first Bluejay with double-digit stuffs in consecutive contests since Kelli Browning in November of 2012.
   Hickman is the fourth Bluejay player with three matches or more of 10+ blocks in the same season, a list that includes Browning twice.
Matches With 10+ Blocks, Season
   10+B   Name   Year
   5   Kelli Browning   2012
   4   Ashley Williams   2003
   3   Jessica Houts   2009
   3   Kelli Browning   2013
   3   Naomi Hickman   2019

CU Sweeps Player of the Week Honors
One day after winning a sixth consecutive BIG EAST regular-season title, the Creighton Volleyball team swept the weekly honors handed out by the league office on Nov. 25. Jaela Zimmerman (Offensive Player of the Week), Naomi Hickman (Defensive Player of the Week) and Keeley Davis (Freshman of the Week) all brought home honors after the Bluejays picked up 3-1 wins over No. 9 Marquette and DePaul..
   Zimmerman averaged 4.81 points, 4.38 kills, 1.88 digs, 0.38 blocks and 0.25 aces on .299 hitting. A sophomore from Lincoln, Neb., Zimmerman had the two-highest kill totals of her career, which started with a personal-best 18 kills in Friday's 3-1 win over No. 9 Marquette. Zimmerman added 10 digs to claim her third straight double-double, and also contributed three assists and an ace. Two days later, the sophomore standout had 17 kills, five digs, three blocks and an ace as she hit .350 in a victory over DePaul. This was Zimmerman's first career weekly honor from the BIG EAST.
   Hickman averaged 2.94 points, 2.50 blocks and 1.62 kills per set and hit .303 during the victories. Hickman had 10 blocks and seven kills on .333 hitting in Friday's 3-1 victory over No. 9 Marquette. CU's 15 blocks as a team were its most in a match since 2015. On Sunday, Hickman had 10 blocks and six kills on .278 hitting in a 3-1 triumph vs. DePaul. Hickman is Creighton's first player with consecutive matches of 10+ blocks since Kelli Browning in 2012 when Creighton was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. It was the second career Defensive Player of the Week accolade for Hickman, who was previously recognized on Sept. 4, 2018.
   Davis averaged 3.75 points, 3.12 kills, 2.50 digs, 0.50 blocks and 0.38 aces as Creighton wrapped up its unprecedented sixth consecutive regular-season BIG EAST outright title. Davis opened her week with 12 kills, three blocks and a season-high nine digs in a 3-1 win over No. 9 Marquette. It was CU's first home victory over a top-10 opponent and pushed Davis over 300 kills on the season. Two days later, Davis had 13 kills, two aces and a season-high 11 digs as she notched her first career double-double. This is the 10th time in the last 12 weeks that the Highlands Ranch, Colo., native was tabbed BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.

Secret Weapon
Sophomore Annika Welty played sparingly in Creighton's first two matches of the season, then missed each of the next 22 contests due to injury.
   She was cleared to practice on Nov. 14 and returned to game action just two days later vs. Xavier.
   Welty entered November 20th with 2019 totals of eight kills, 10 digs, three blocks and no aces in eight sets over the course of four matches played. She had eight kills, six blocks and two digs on .615 hitting in the win vs. No. 9 Marquette, and two days later added six kills, six blocks, two digs and her first ace of 2019 as the Bluejays defeated DePaul.
   Welty averaged 0.70 kills and 0.70 blocks per set in 25 matches as a freshman on Creighton's BIG EAST champion team, including seven starts from Sept. 14-29.

BIG EAST's Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's 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. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's brought home the 2019 tournament title.
   Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team (through Dec. 4, 2019) since the league's reconfiguration in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013 (through 12/4)
             BIG EAST only   All   matches
Team (NCAA Bids)   W   L   W   L
Creighton (7)   114   10   183   51
Marquette (7)   100   23   172   58
Xavier   75   49   111   104
Butler   70   54   122   96
Villanova (1)   67   57   125   94
St. John's (1)   59   65   129   101
Seton Hall (1)   58   65   108   114
Georgetown   30   94   76   138
DePaul   25   99   75   135
Providence*   13   95   60   131
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.

Creighton & Marquette In Select Company
The BIG EAST's Creighton and Marquette are two of 15 teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments. That group features BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, USC and Washington.
   Creighton and Marquette are two of 14 schools that entered this fall 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.

First Class In Every Way
Creighton's senior quartet of Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole, Megan Sharkey and Brittany Witt arrived on campus at three different times and come from three different states, but they continue to represent the university in a first class manner both on and off the floor and were recognized following its Nov. 24th win vs. DePaul.
   Since the fall of 2015 when Ballenger first arrived, Creighton has gone 86-4 in regular-season BIG EAST play and 8-1 in BIG EAST Championship action, winning 9-of-10 possible conference titles in that time.
   Combined they've contributed 1,112 kills, 2,981 assists, 2,915 digs, 263 aces and 501 blocks in a Bluejay uniform while helping CU to a 135-33 overall record since Ballenger enrolled, and a 108-24 mark since Ballenger and Witt began playing.
   In Ballenger's redshirt season in 2015, Creighton went 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.
   Witt joined the team in 2016 and along with Ballenger, 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 wrapped up the year ranked ninth nationally.
   In 2017 Witt and Ballenger helped the Bluejays as they 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.
   Last year's team picked up transfers Cole and Sharkey and went 29-5, once again running the table in league play.
   This year's team is 24-5 and won a sixth straight outright BIG EAST regular-season title, tying a school-record with four top-25 wins.
   Creighton's 108 wins (so far) since 2016 are tied for seventh-most nationally and three shy of the most victories in any four-year span in program history.

Quick Witted
Brittany Witt continues to play defense at a high level, leading the BIG EAST in digs per set.
   Witt owned 33.26 percent of Creighton's digs in league play this season, a higher rate than any other player for their BIG EAST team this fall.
   Witt also owned a dig on 15.14 percent of opposing attacks in BIG EAST play, which was the highest rate for any player for their team this fall.
Highest Percentage of Team's League Digs
Rk.   Player, Team   Digs   Team D   % of Team D
1.   Brittany Witt, CU   310   932   33.26%
2.   Madi Kutruff, XU   327   1027   31.84%
3.   Regan Lough, VU   300   962   31.19%
4.   Isabelle Banez, DPU   328   1071   30.63%
5.   Elizabeth LaBue, BU   308   1017   30.29%

Highest Percentage of Digs on Opposing Attacks
BIG EAST Matches Only
Rk.   Player, Team   Digs   Opp ATK   % of ATK
1.   Brittany Witt, CU   310   2047   15.14%
2.   Madi Kutruff, XU   327   2456   13.31%
3.   Isabelle Banez, DPU   328   2521   13.01%
4.   Regan Lough, VU   300   2309   12.99%
5.   Elizabeth LaBue, BU   308   2436   12.64%

Top 25 History
Creighton is 18-78 all-time against teams in the top-25 of the AVCA poll, but 13-12 since the start of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
   An opening-weekend 2017 win at No. 3 Washington is the highest-ranked team that the Bluejays have ever beaten, surpassing a win at No. 4 Kansas the previous December.
   Creighton is 7-31 all-time against top-10 foes (7-24 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).
   Creighton lost its first 31 true road matches against top-25 foes, but has 'improved' to 6-37 after wins in recent seasons at No. 23 North Carolina (2015), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 3 Washington (2017), No. 7 Kansas (2017), No. 18 Marquette (2018) and No. 10 Marquette (2019).
   Creighton is 111-27 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 14-17 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, 32 of Creighton's 55 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 196-23 against unranked teams. Creighton has won 59 straight home matches over unranked teams and all but two of its last 47 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 14-17)
Home: 4-5   Away: 5-6    Neutral: 5-6
Date   Winner   Loser   CU Score
11/19/12   #11 Minnesota   #21 Creighton   1-3
08/30/13   #25 Creighton   #13 BYU   3-1
09/14/13   #11 UCLA   #24 Creighton   1-3
09/16/13   #7 Hawaii   #23 Creighton   2-3
08/30/14   #22 Kansas   #23 Creighton   1-3
09/03/16   #23 Kentucky   #22 Creighton   0-3
12/02/16   #21 Creighton   #4 Kansas   3-2
12/09/16   #21 Creighton   #17 Michigan   3-2
12/10/16   #5 Texas   #21 Creighton   0-3
08/26/17   #9 Creighton   #3 Washington   3-1
09/01/17   #7 Creighton   #13 Kentucky   3-0
09/02/17   #18 USC   #7 Creighton   0-3
09/08/17   #17 Purdue   #9 Creighton   1-3
09/09/17   #9 Creighton   #7 Kansas   3-0
09/16/17   #19 Iowa State   #8 Creighton   2-3
12/12/17   #12 Michigan St.   #15 Creighton   1-3
08/24/18   #13 Creighton   #5 Kentucky   3-2
08/25/18   #10 USC   #13 Creighton   2-3
09/06/18   #7 Nebraska   #14 Creighton   2-3
09/15/18   #8 Illinois   #10 Creighton   1-3
09/23/18   #10 Creighton   #21 Marquette   3-0
10/26/18   #10 Creighton   #18 Marquette   3-1
11/24/18   #9 Creighton   #16 Marquette   3-1
12/01/18   #22 Washington   #9 Creighton   0-3
08/30/19   #2 Nebraska   #18 Creighton   1-3
08/31/19   #20 Baylor   #18 Creighton   0-3
09/06/19   #23 Creighton   #12 Kentucky   3-1
09/07/19   #23 Creighton   #15 USC   3-1
09/14/19   #12 Washington   #17 Creighton   1-3
10/12/19   #13 Creighton   #10 Marquette   3-2
11/22/19   #12 Creighton   #9 Marquette   3-1

31 Flavors For Davis
Keeley Davis entered Creighton's match at No. 10 Marquette on Oct. 12 with a season-best of 14 kills, only to go off for 31 kills in the 3-2 win over the Golden Eagles.
   Ten of Davis' kills came in the third set and six came in the first 15 points of the fifth set. Overall, 23 of her kills came after intermission.
   Her 31 kills were one shy of the program record set by Michelle Prorock vs. Evansville in 1996.
   The 31 kills were the most by a Bluejay in any five set match, and also the most ever by a Bluejay freshman in any contest.
   Davis' 31 kills were the most by any BIG EAST player since St. John's Gina Traballi had 32 at Marquette in 2016, and her 33.5 points the most by a BIG EAST performer since Georgetown's Symone Speech vs. Seton Hall in 2017.
   Davis' 33.5 points were the most by a Bluejay in program history since the points statistic was introduced with the implementation of rally scoring in 2001.
Most Kills, Match, Creighton History
   32   Michelle Prorock vs. Evansville (4s)   11-2-96
   31   Keeley Davis at Marquette (5s)   10-12-19
   30   Melissa Walsh at Indiana State (5s)   10-16-98
   28   Melissa Walsh vs. Drake (5s)   10-10-98
   28   Melissa Walsh at Drake (5s)   10-1-99
   28   Melissa Walsh vs. Northern Iowa (4s)   10-27-00
   28   Leah Ratzlaff at Southern Illinois (4s)   11-22-03
   28   Jaali Winters at St. John's   10-2-15
   28   Jaali Winters vs. Butler (5s)   10-13-17

Most Points, Match, Creighton History
   33.5   Keeley Davis at Marquette (5s)   10-12-19
   31.5   Leah Ratzlaff at Southern Illinois (4s)   11-22-03
   31.0   Jaali Winters at St. John's (4s)   10-02-15
   30.5   Jessica Houts at Evansville (5s)   11-18-06
   30.0   Kelly Goc vs. Drake (4s)   11-16-07
   30.0   Jaali Winters vs. Butler (5s)   10-13-17

News, Notes, Nuggets
Creighton accomplished a lot of statistical marks on Oct. 11 (DePaul) and Oct. 12 (Marquette) that it hadn't in some time. Consider...
- Creighton's 26 block assists at Marquette were its most since 26 vs. Seton Hall on Oct. 16, 2016.
- Creighton's .714 hitting percentage in the third set at DePaul was the program's best since hitting .818 in the first set at DePaul on Oct. 6, 2017, and tied for its third best hitting percentage in any set ever.
- Creighton's victory at No. 10 Marquette was the program's first top-25 true road win since a win at No. 18 Marquette on Oct. 26, 2018, its first top-10 win at any site since a win vs. No. 5 Kentucky on Aug. 24, 2018 and its first top-10 road win since a 3-0 sweep at No. 7 Kansas on Sept. 9, 2017.
- Keeley Davis' 31 kills made her the first Bluejay with 20 or more kills in a match since Jaali Winters at No. 18 Marquette on Oct. 26, 2018 and the first Bluejay with 30 or more kills in a match since Melissa Walsh had 30 at Indiana State on Oct. 16, 1998.
- Brittany Witt's 35 digs made her the first Bluejay with 30+ digs in a match since Witt herself had 34 at Marquette on Nov. 25, 2017. Witt's the first Bluejay with 35 or more digs in a match since Kate Elman had 35 at Wichita State on Nov. 16, 2012.
- Naomi Hickman's 10 block assists and 11 total blocks were the most by a CU player in a match since Lauren Smith had 10 blocks assists and 11 overall blocks on Nov. 20, 2015 at Georgetown.

Bouncing Back
Creighton is 131-11 (.923) in league play since the start of the 2012 campaign, a stat that includes CU's final season in the MVC.
   On the rare 11 occasions where it lost, Creighton responded with a victory in its next match.
   Creighton lost on Nov. 8 at Villanova, but responded one day later with a 3-0 victory at Georgetown.
   In the last six seasons (starting in 2014), Creighton is 112-7 in all matches against BIG EAST competition.

Crushing It Against The Top 25
Junior Naomi Hickman has been dominant against top-25 foes this season, averaging 2.14 kills and 1.07 blocks per set and .432 hitting percentage.
   That includes Hickman's career-high 17 kills in a win over No. 12 Kentucky, .733 hitting in a 3-1 victory over No. 15 USC, and a career-high 11 blocks in a win over No. 10 Marquette.
   In her last three matches against Marquette, Hickman owns 35 blocks in 17 sets (2.06 bps.) and has hit .279.

111 Wins While Ranked
Creighton owns a 111-27 record all-time when playing as a ranked team. The 100th win was a special one too, defeating No. 10 Marquette in five sets on Oct. 12.
   Creighton is 14-17 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself.
   The Bluejays are also 7-31 all-time in all matches against top-10 foes (7-24 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).

Another 20 Win Season
Creighton is 24-5 this year. It's the 11th time in the program's modern history, and eighth straight season, of 20 or more victories.
   Keep in mind that when Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired in 2003, Creighton's modern day single-season record for wins was 16, and the Bluejays were coming off a 3-23 campaign.
   Creighton was one of 14 schools with seven straight seasons (2012-18) of 20+ wins entering this fall. That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington, Western Kentucky.
   All but Florida State have won 20 or more matches in 2019, as well. The Seminoles are 19-9 heading into Thursday's NCAA Tournament match vs. UCF in Gainesville, Fla.

23 x 7
Creighton is one of just seven schools nationally who have won 23 matches or more in each of the previous seven seasons (2012-18). That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Texas.
   All or those schools have 23 wins or more this season except Texas, which enters the NCAA Tournament with a 21-3 mark.

The Quest For 25
Creighton is one of just three schools nationally who have won 25 matches or more in each of the previous five seasons (2014-18). That group consists of BYU, Creighton and Florida.
   BYU and Florida are both already 25-4 this season to extended its streaks, while Creighton is 24-5 heading into Friday.

Davis & Witt Honored With BIG EAST Awards
Creighton swept all three BIG EAST weekly honors on Oct. 15. Brittany Witt was named Defensive Player of the Week, while Keeley Davis brought home both the Offensive Player of the Week and the Freshman of the Week honor. It was the sixth straight week Davis has been named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, extending her league record.
   Davis led all BIG EAST players with 4.75 kills per set during the week, hitting .370. The freshman from Highlands Ranch, Colo., started her week with seven kills, five digs and an ace on .286 hitting in a 3-0 win at DePaul.
   Davis then more than doubled her previous high as she pounded 31 kills in a 3-2 road win at No. 10 Marquette, all while hitting .390 and adding seven digs, two aces and a block assist. Davis' 31 kills were the most by any BIG EAST player since 2016, the most by a Creighton player since 1996, and just one shy of CU's single-match record. She had 10 kills in the third set alone, then added seven more in the fourth set. In the decisive fifth set, Davis had six early kills as CU blitzed to a 10-4 lead in an eventual 15-8 victory. In addition to her attacking prowess, Davis' seven digs tied her then- season-high.
   Witt led all BIG EAST players with 5.50 digs per set during the week. The senior libero was also targeted 35 times in serve receive on the weekend, allowing just one ace while helping with passes that led to 18 kills.
   The Omaha product opened her week with nine digs and a season-best four aces in a 3-0 sweep at DePaul on Friday. CU's defense held DePaul to just 32 kills in the match, 15 fewer than any other league contest for the Blue Demons this fall. Witt's four aces helped her move into the top five in program history for career aces.
   On Saturday, Witt had a career-high 35 digs in Creighton's 3-2 win at No. 10 Marquette in a battle for first place. Witt's 35 digs were the most by a Bluejay since 2012, and just three shy of the program record for one match.

Davis Also AVCA National Player of the Week
For her accomplishments listed above, Keeley Davis was also named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 15.
   Davis is the second Bluejay ever to earn the honor, joining Michelle Sicner, who earned the award exactly six years to the day earlier, also after wins vs. DePaul and Marquette.

Cole Passes 1,000 Career Digs, 4,000 Assists
Madelyn Cole's name won't appear at the top of many of Creighton's career charts because she started her career at Marshall, but the senior is passed a couple of milestones nonetheless on Nov. 16 at Xavier.
   Cole enters this weekend contest with 4,164 career assists and 1,037 career digs.
   Cole owned 1,777 assists and 494 digs in 60 matches at Marshall and has 2,387 assists and 543 digs to her name in 62 matches as a Bluejay.
   The only four players to reach 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs as Bluejays (only) are Megan Bober (4,359 assists & 1,123 digs), Korie Lebeda (5,281 & 1,130), Kailey Reyes (4,207 & 1,258) and Melissa Weisensee (4,018 & 1,223).

Cole Reaches 1,000 Assists This Year
Below is a listing of all the women who have reached 1,000 assists in a season. Madelyn Cole, who needed 26 matches to reach the mark last fall, got there in 27 contests this fall.
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 Seton Hall   2018
Megan Bober   27   Evansville   2010
Lydia Dimke   27   Georgetown   2017
Madelyn Cole   27   #9 Marquette   2019
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

Aces, In Spades
Madelyn Cole served up a career-high seven aces on Nov. 9 at Georgetown. The figure was one shy of the Creighton single-match record set by Carolyn Decker in 2004, and the most by a Bluejay since Michelle Sicner had seven aces vs. McNeese State in 2011.
   Cole owns 0.415 aces per set in her Bluejay career, just a fraction behind Molly Moran's (1998-2001) program record of 0.425 aces per set.
Service Aces, Match
   8   Carolyn Decker at New Mexico (3s)   9-4-04
   7   Molly Moran vs. Drake (3s)   9-22-00
   7   Kelli Koochi at Indiana State (4s)   10-19-01
   7   Nayka Benitez vs. Bradley (4s)   9-25-10
   7   Michelle Sicner vs. McNeese State (3s)   9-17-11
   7   Madelyn Cole at Georgetown (3s)   11-9-19

Service Aces Per Set (Min. 40 SA)
       Name   Sets   No.   Avg.   Years
   1.   Molly Moran   341   145   0.425   1998-01
   2.   Madelyn Cole   217   90   0.415   2018-Pr.
   3.   Nayka Benitez   233   82   0.352   2009-10
   4.   Melissa Weisensee   411   125   0.304   1994-97
   5.   Carolyn Decker   300   89   0.297   2004-08
   6.   JoDe Cieloha   398   113   0.284   1994-97
   7.   Shelly Kapler   388   104   0.268   1996-99
   8.   Brittany Witt   463   118   0.255   2016-Pr.
   9.   Julianne Mandolfo   241   60   0.249   2010-11
   10.   Michelle Prorock   299   72   0.241   1994-96

Over, Already?
Creighton is finishing matches at an unparalleled pace this season, both in league play and all matches.
   Creighton has played an average of just 3.414 sets per match this fall, putting it on pace to break the previous mark (3.452) set by the 2007 club.
   In league play, Creighton played an average of 3.278 sets per conference match this fall, tying the previous mark (3.278) set by the 2016 club.
Fewest Sets Per Match (All Matches)
   Rank   Year   MP   Sets   Sets Per Match
   1.   2019   29   99   3.414
   2.   2007   31   107   3.452
   3.   2018   34   118   3.471
   4.   1994   25   87   3.480
   5.   2001   27   94   3.481

Fewest Sets Per Match (League Matches)
   Rank   Year   MP   Sets   Sets Per Match
   1.   2016   18   59   3.278
       2019   18   59   3.278
   3.   2018   18   60   3.333
   4.   1994   20   69   3.450
   5.   2002   18   63   3.500
       2007   18   63   3.500

Committee Likes The Jays
Creighton was listed 10th when the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee released a top 10 listing on Sunday, Nov. 3.
   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 November 2.
   In 2016, the first year of the early preview, nine of the 10 teams in the early November rank remained a national seed, with No. 5 San Diego not earning any kind of national seed on Selection Sunday.
   In 2017, the early committee ranking saw 8-of-10 teams hold onto a top-10 ranking, but No. 10 Wisconsin didn't end up as a top-16 seed.
   Last year Creighton was the No. 10 seed in the preliminary rankings and ended up as the No. 9 seed. Nine of the 10 teams in last year's mock top-10 ended up as top 10 seeds, with mock No. 7 USC dropping to the No. 11 national seed.
   Of this year's mock top 10, all but Creighton are host sites.
   Here's the top 10 that was announced by the committee on Nov. 3 this season:
Rk.   Team   W-L
1.   Texas   16-2
2.   Baylor   19-1
3.   Wisconsin   16-4
4.   Stanford   16-4
5.   Pitt   23-1
6.   Nebraska   18-3
7.   Washington   17-5
8.   Minnesota   17-3
9.   Florida   18-3
10.   Creighton   19-3

Witt Surpasses 100 Aces
Brittany Witt became CU's seventh player to reach 100 aces in a career, doing so on Oct. 5 at St. John's.
   Witt reached the century mark in her 117th match, making her the fifth-fastest Bluejay player to reach 100 aces.
   She ranks third on CU's all-time list for career aces.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Aces (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Molly Moran   73   08/31/01   vs. DePaul
Melissa Weisensee   77   11/01/96   Southern Illinois
JoDe Cieloha   85   09/06/97   at UNLV
Shelly Kapler   95   10/15/99   Bradley
Brittany Witt   117   10/05/19   at St. John's
Kate Elman   120   11/15/15   Butler
Jaali Winters   135   11/17/18   Providence

Most Career Service Aces, Creighton History
       Name   Sets   No.   Years
   1.   Molly Moran   341   145   1998-01
   2.   Melissa Weisensee   411   125   1994-97
   3.   Brittany Witt   463   118   2016-Pr.
   4.   JoDe Cieloha   398   113   1994-97
   5.   Kate Elman   464   105   2012-15

Pencil Her In For 10+ Digs
Brittany Witt has led Creighton in digs during all but two matches (Oct. 26 at Providence; Nov. 9 at Georgetown) this season, reaching double-figures in 25 of those contests.
   With 35 digs at Marquette on Oct. 12, Witt became the second player in program history with 10+ digs in 100 or more career matches.
   Her 112 matches with 10 or more digs is two more than Kate Elman's previous school record.
Matches With 10+ Digs, Career
   10+ Digs   Name   Years
   112   Brittany Witt   2016-Pres.
   110   Kate Elman   2012-15
   74   Janeen Piller   2001-04
   71   Allie Oelke   2007-10
   65   Melissa Weisensee   1994-97

Brittany's Best
Brittany Witt was named BIG EAST Libero of the Year in 2017, but continues to surpass the figures that won her that recognition as a sophomore.
   During that 2017 season, Witt averaged 4.24 digs per set as Bluejay opponents hit .178.
   This season Witt is averaging 5.09 digs per set as Bluejay opponents are hitting .152.
   With Witt spearheading the defense, Creighton has won the dig battle in all but four of CU's last 42 matches (including the postseason) against BIG EAST opponents.
   The opposing liberos that Creighton has faced have had more digs than Witt just three times this season (Nebraska, Wichita State and Villanova). Witt has been outdug in a BIG EAST match just once in CU's last 20 league contests.
Brittany Witt Season Stats
Week   Team W-L   DPS   Opp Hit %   REC %
2016   29-7   4.09   .178   .957
2017*   26-7   4.24   .188   .960
2018   29-5   4.32   .172   .945
2019*   24-5   5.09   .152   .960
*BIG EAST Libero of the Year

Jays On A Roll
Creighton's 31-match win streak in BIG EAST regular-season play was snapped on Nov. 8 at Villanova, but CU is still 36-1 in its last 37 regular-season contests against league foes.
   Creighton's 31 straight regular-season league wins was a program record.   Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
       Wins   Dates   Snapped By   League
       31   Nov. 18, 2017 - Nov. 3, 2019   at Villanova, 3-0   BIG EAST
       28   Oct. 31, 2015-Sept. 30, 2017   at Marquette, 3-0   BIG EAST
       14   Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012   Never (left MVC)   MVC

Hurler Honored By AVCA
Brian Hurler is one of 14 recipients of the 2019 Coaches 4 Coaches Scholarship, the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The scholarship provides the opportunity for up-and-coming volleyball coaches to attend their first AVCA Convention with the scholarship money used to pay for Convention registration and hotel costs. Scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to interact with successful coaches from all levels and explore the limitless networking and educational opportunities available at the AVCA Convention that make this an annual can't-miss event.
   Hurler is in his first season on the Bluejay bench as a graduate manager and technical coordinator. He spent the previous three years as an assistant coach at Montclair State in New Jersey, and also owns experience working as a volunteer for the U.S. Women's National Team and Pan American Cup Team.
   "Brian has been a huge addition to our program this year," said Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. "He's finding statistical information that makes us better and can connect with our players so that when we train them to do something, we have the numbers to back it up with even more credibility on why we want to do it. Brian is a perfect recipient for this because he has incredible work ethic and wants to be great. His future in college volleyball is very bright."

Davis Is Killing It
Keeley Davis continues to lead Creighton in kills, as the freshman averages 3.28 kills per set. In program history, only four previous freshmen have ever averaged more than three kills per set over the course of a season, as seen below:
Most Kills Per Set, Creighton Freshman
(min. 100 kills)
   KPS   Name   Year
   4.07   Jaali Winters   2015
   3.75   Melissa Walsh   1998
   3.39   JoDe Cieloha   1994
   3.29   Allie Oelke   2007
   3.28   Keeley Davis   2019
   2.85   Amanda Cvejdlik   2005
   2.84   Jessica Houts   2005

Most Kills, Creighton Freshmen
   Kills   Name   Year
   546   Jaali Winters   2015
   352   Allie Oelke   2007
   341   Melissa Walsh   1998
   325   Keeley Davis   2019
   306   Melanie Jereb   2012
   297   Jess Bird   2013

Outside Weapons
Erica Kostelac and Jaela Zimmerman continue to produce in league play at levels typically seen among the best outside hitters in the conference.
   Kostelac ranked second in the BIG EAST in aces per set (0.51), seventh in points per set (3.86), eighth in hitting percentage (.284) and eighth in kills per set (3.14).
   Zimmerman ranked sixth in points per set (3.89) and seventh in kills per set (3.27).
   Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in 2013, only nine women have finished a season ranked in the top-10 in both categories during league play. That list consists of Nele Barber (2013), Autumn Bailey (2013, 2014), Kelli Browning (2014), Amanda Hansen (2015), Taryn Kloth (2016, 2018), Allie Barber (2017, 2018 and 2019), Symone Speech (2017), Hope Werch (2019) and Erica Kostelac (2019).

See You In 2020
Creighton has locked up its role as host of the 2020 BIG EAST Championship. Per league policy, the host of the championship will be the regular season champion from the previous year.
   However, an institution is prohibited from hosting back to back BIG EAST Championships (two years in a row). In the instance that the same team is the regular season champion two consecutive seasons, the regular season runner up will host.

Senior Class Reaches 100 Wins
Creighton owns a sparkling 108-24 record since the start of the 2016 season, which puts CU seventh nationally in victories in that span.
   Brittany Witt has played in all 108 victories and on Nov. 25 became the seventh volleyball player to appear in 100 victories at CU. Megan Ballenger has played in 106 wins since she missed a pair of victories in 2016, reaching the century mark on Nov. 1st.
   Creighton has achieved 100 or more victories in a four-year span five times now.
Most Wins, Four-Year Span
   W-L   Years
   111-28   2015-18
   108-24   2016-Present
   107-32   2014-17

Most Wins, Appeared In As A Creighton Player
   111   Jaali Winters   2015-18
   109   Taryn Kloth   2015-18
   108   Brittany Witt   2016-Present
   106   Marysa Wilkinson   2014-17
   106   Megan Ballenger   2016-Present
   104   Lauren Smith   2013-16

Most Wins Since Start of 2016 Season (12/3)
   Rk.   Wins   Team   Next Match
   1.   117   Nebraska   NCAA's
   2.   115   BYU   NCAA's
       115   Stanford   NCAA's
   4.   112   Western Kentucky   NCAA's
   5.   110   Pittsburgh   NCAA's
   6.   109   Stephen F. Austin   NCAA's
   7.   108   Creighton   NCAA's
       108   Florida   NCAA's
   9.   107   Penn State   NCAA's
       107   Minnesota   NCAA's

CU Stat Leaders in League Play
One reason Creighton finished atop the BIG EAST standings is because it is dominating the league stats, both individually and as a group.
   As a team, CU led the way in opponents hitting percentage (.137) and aces per set (2.07).
   Individually, a pair of Bluejays won a category.
   Madelyn Cole owned a conference-best 11.41 assists per set.
   Brittany Witt led all players with 5.25 digs per set.

2-0 Leads Are Familiar
Creighton has led 2-0 at intermission in 25 of its last 27 regular-season BIG EAST matches. Creighton is 84-0 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST play (not to mention 7-0 in BIG EAST Championship play) when leading 2-0. That improves Kirsten Bernthal Booth to 160-0 all-time in regular-season conference matches when owning a 2-0 advantage, and a 171-0 mark against league foes when you include league tournament play.
   Creighton is 25-4 since joining the BIG EAST when tied 1-1 at intermission, with that last happening on Nov. 22 vs. No. 9 Marquette.
   Creighton has trailed 0-2 at intermission just 11 times in league play since joining the BIG EAST and is 5-6 when that happens. The last time it occurred was Nov. 8, 2019 at Villanova.

Just Win, Baby
Creighton had its season-best 14-match win streak snapped on Nov. 8 at Villanova. That ranked as the fourth-longest mark in program history, and also marked the sixth straight campaign with at least one 10-match win streak.
   All eight win streaks of 10 or longer have taken place in the past eight seasons, after never having done it from 1994-2011.
   Most Consecutive Wins, Creighton History
       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
       14   Sept. 19 - Nov. 3, 2019    at Villanova, 3-0
       12   Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015   at Villanova, 3-2

October Ends With Another Sweep
Two victories over Providence on Oct. 25 & 26 wrapped up a near-perfect October for Creighton.
   The Bluejays went 8-0 with seven sweeps during the month. The lone exception was a 3-2 win at No. 10 Marquette in which the Jays held a pair of match points in the third set.
   Creighton swept 13 of its 18 BIG EAST Conference matches this season.
   Since losing home matches to St. John's (in 2013) and Seton Hall (in 2014), CU has won all but one set against both the Red Storm and Pirates inside D.J. Sokol Arena.

RPI Update
Despite 11 wins (and two losses) over the course of its last 13 matches, Creighton has dropped from 10th (on Oct. 14) to 20th in this week's official NCAA RPI rankings.
   The chart below shows where Creighton has been in the official RPI each week since 2010. Week 1 refers to the first Monday in October, which is when the NCAA first releases the RPI publicly each year.
Creighton Volleyball RPI by Week
   '10   '11   '12   '13   '14   '15   '16   '17   '18   '19
Week 1   55   --   26   10   41   20   29   8   21   18
Week 2   32   --   29   7   42   23   23   14   22   10
Week 3   40   65   29   5   46   23   27   13   20   16
Week 4   44   63   34   7   40   26   19   15   22   20
Week 5   41   55   32   9   39   23   20   15   17   19
Week 6   46   53   33   10   31   23   16   14   16   21
Week 7   44   58   31   12   31   20   17   9   14   20
Week 8   39   61   29   16   34   21   18   16   16   17
Week 9   29   69   26   16   24   15   17   10   13   20
NCAA Seed   --   --   --   --   --   16   --   9   9   --
FINAL   32   74   24   18   34   14   12   14   16

Not Half Bad
Creighton went 17-1 on the season in BIG EAST play, having reached midway point of league action following its Oct. 26 contest at Providence.
   Creighton has started league play 8-1 or 9-0 for the sixth straight season, and eighth time in the past nine years.
   This is the 20th straight time that Creighton has owned a .667 win percentage or better in either the first or second half of a conference season.
League Record by Year
Year   1st Half   2nd Half   Final 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
2019   9-0   8-1   1st BIG EAST
Total   151-84   147-88   --

The Road Less Traveled
Creighton is 16-2 in its last 18 true road matches, but one of those setbacks came Nov. 8 at Villanova. The loss to the Wildcats snapped CU's seven-match road win streak.
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 - Nov. 3, 2018   at #2 Nebraska
   7   Sept. 21-Nov. 9, 2007   at #24 Wichita State, 3-0
   7   Nov. 21, 2009-Oct. 2, 2010   at Drake, 3-1
   7   Sept. 6 - Oct. 26, 2019   at Villanova, 3-0

No. 10 Jays
Creighton is 15th in this week's AVCA poll, improving five spots higher than last week's slot.
   Creighton has spent 21 weeks in program history in the top 10, which includes 12 straight weeks in 2018.
   Creighton is one of just nine programs to have spent at least one week in the AVCA Top 10 in each of the last four seasons, a list that consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin.
   Creighton is 8-1 all-time when ranked exactly No. 15.
   Creighton is in the top 25 of the AVCA poll for the 53rd straight week. The 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
   557   Stanford   3
   557   Nebraska   6
   474   Penn State   8
   447   Florida   12
   251   Texas   4
   106   Wisconsin   5
   105   BYU   13
   76   Minnesota   7
   57   Kentucky   11
   53   Creighton   15

All-Time Weekly AVCA Top-10 Rankings
December 19, 2016 (Year-End)   9th
August 9, 2017 (Preseason)   9th
August 28, 2017   7th
September 4, 2017   9th
September 11, 2017   8th
September 10, 2018   10th
September 17, 2018   10th
September 24, 2018   10th
October 1, 2018   10th
October 8, 2018   10th
October 15, 2018   10th
October 22, 2018   10th
October 29, 2018   9th
November 5, 2018   9th
November 12, 2018   9th
November 19, 2018   9th
November 26, 2018   9th
October 21, 2019   10th
October 28, 2019   9th
November 4, 2019   9th
November 25, 2019   10th

Home Sweet Home
Creighton has gone unbeaten at home in league play in six of the last eight seasons (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).
   Creighton is 60-2 all-time (.968) 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 91-7 (.929) all-time in regular-season conference matches in the facility, including 45 straight victories.
   Creighton has won all 13 regular-season meetings with St. John's since that 2013 upset, and all 12 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 14 seasons (including 2019). That streak that dates back to its days at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, a site that was torn down three years ago and no longer exists.

Ace, Ace, Baby
Madelyn Cole had her streak of 12 consecutive matches with an ace snapped on Oct. 26 at Providence. Cole is the only Bluejay with a streak or nine or longer since 2011, and has actually done it three times in that span.
Consecutive Matches With An Ace
   15   Amanda Cvejdlik, Sept. 29-Nov. 18, 2006
   12   Madelyn Cole, Sept. 14 - Oct. 25, 2019
   11   Kim Whitman, Sept. 5-Oct. 4, 1998
   11   Molly Moran, Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 2000
   11   Julianne Mandolfo, Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 2010
   11   Madelyn Cole - Oct. 27 - Dec. 1, 2018
   9   Melissa Weisensee, Sept. 1-20, 1995
   9   Madelyn Cole, Aug. 31 - Sept. 21, 2018

Cole Reaches 2,000 Creighton Helpers
With 42 assists on Oct. 25 at Providence, Madelyn Cole surpassed the 2,000 assist milestone transferring to Creighton prior to the 2018 season. She did it in her 53rd match as a Bluejay.
   Here's how long it took Creighton's previous setters to reach 2,000 career assists.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 2,000 Assists (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Korie Lebeda   43   09/22/06   Drake
Brittany Coleman   45   10/02/04   Southern Illinois
Kailey Reyes   49   09/01/00   at Iowa State
Lydia Dimke   52   10/13/17   Butler
Madelyn Cole   53   10/25/19   at Providence
Megan Bober   55   11/05/10   at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee   66   09/15/96   at UMKC
Michelle Sicner   109   11/23/14   Seton Hall

Let's Get It Started
Creighton started 11-0 or better in league play for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Each time CU has started 7-0 or better, it has gone on to win it's regular-season conference title.
   Below is a list of Creighton's best starts in conference play all-time:
Start   League   Year   Final W-L   Final Place
18-0   BIG EAST   2016   18-0   1st
18-0   BIG EAST   2018   18-0   1st
12-0   BIG EAST   2019   17-1   1st
11-0   BIG EAST   2015   17-1   1st
6-0   MVC   2007   14-4   T-2nd

Witt Gets To Everything
Brittany Witt collected a career-high 35 digs in Creighton's 3-2 win at No. 10 Marquette on October 12th. That performance ranks tied for sixth-most in program history for a single match.
   Witt had multiple digs on five different points, including a pair of times in the third set where she had three digs on the same point.
Most Digs, Match, Creighton History
   38   Melissa Weisensee vs. Evansville (4s)   10-10-97
   38   Bianca Rivera at Drake (5s)   9-11-07
   36   Janeen Piller vs. Drake (4s)   10-8-04
   36   Nayka Benitez vs. Wichita State (4s)   10-2-09
   36   Julianne Mandolfo at Illinois State (5s)   10-29-11
   35   Janeen Piller vs. Bradley (5s)   10-31-03
   35   Janeen Piller at Missouri State (4s)   9-25-04
   35   Janeen Piller vs. Wichita State (5s)   10-23-04
   35   Kate Elman at Wichita State (5s)   11-16-12
   35   Brittany Witt at Marquette (5s)   10-12-19

Davis Keeps Improving
Keeley Davis won seven consecutive BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors from Sept. 10-Oct. 22, and with good reason. Her team continued to win, and her stats improved week-by-week.
   Davis' initial Freshman of the Week accolade came during week two, and she won it the following six weeks, as well.
   After not winning the award the week of October 28, Davis won her eighth honor on Nov. 5th, her ninth recognition on Nov. 19th and her 10th and final award (of 13 weeks) on Nov. 26th.
Week   W-L   KPS   HIT%   SAPS   DPS   BPS
Week 1   0-2   2.57   .136   .29   .29   .14
Week 2*   3-0   2.62   .168   .15   .85   .38
Week 3*   2-1   2.82   .239   .18   1.00   .45
Week 4*   2-0   3.67   .327   .67   1.00   .83
Week 5*   2-0   3.00   .220   .57   .71   .29
Week 6*   2-0   3.17   .125   .67   1.00   .33
Week 7*   2-0   4.75   .370   .38   1.50   .12
Week 8*   2-0   3.83   .353   .17   1.33   .50
Week 9   2-0   2.00   -.020   .17   1.00   .33
Week 10*   2-0   3.83   .431   .17   .67   .83
Week 11   1-1   3.33   .216   .17   1.17   .00
Week 12*   2-0   5.00   .243   .50   1.67   .83
Week 13*   2-0   3.12   .141   .38   2.50   .50
Week 14#   0-1   3.00   .033   .33   4.33   .00
*Named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
#No Freshman of the Week award given

Comparing Seasons
Now in its seventh year in the BIG EAST, this year's Creighton team compares favorably with some of its past teams.
   The 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 teams all would win the regular-season league title, and the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 clubs each won the BIG EAST Tournament, as well.
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
2019   17-1   14.61   .269   2.07   15.80   2.25

Serving Better
After being plagued by serving accuracy woes to start the season, Creighton has made vast improvements since mid-September.
   Creighton started the year with 42 aces and 99 service errors in its first nine contests, during which time CU won 20-of-34 sets. Creighton served just 87.0 percent of its 762 serves inbounds in that span.
   In 20 matches since then, Creighton has 131 service aces and 155 service errors while winning 54-of-65 sets played. CU has served 1,566 times, serving it inbounds 90.1 percent of the time. Keeley Davis (25 aces, 25 errors), Erica Kostelac (22/18), Madelyn Cole (32/27) and Jaela Zimmerman (20/14) have fueled the resurgence behind the service stripe.

Championship Season
Creighton has saved some of its best work for the months of October and November in recent seasons.
   Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton is 62-5 in October, and 62-7 in the month of November.
   Since the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is a combined 95-7 in the months of October (49-3) and November (46-4).

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 125 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 22 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
   CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (3), Villanova (3) and St. John's (2) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent   Reg. Season   BE Tourney   Total
Butler   13-1   -   13-1
DePaul   14-0   -   14-0
Georgetown   14-0   -   14-0
Marquette   12-2   3-1   15-3
Providence   12-0   -   12-0
Seton Hall   11-3   2-0   13-3
St. John's   13-1   0-1   13-2
Villanova   11-3   3-0   14-3
Xavier   14-0   3-0   17-0
Total   114-10   11-2   125-12

Setting An Example
Since the start of last season, Creighton is 37-2 against BIG EAST competition. The Bluejays are 111-18 in sets against league foes in that time, dropping five sets in five matches against Marquette, meaning they've gone 96-13 in sets against everyone else.
   Marquette is 33-6 against league opponents in that same span, with five losses coming to Creighton. The Golden Eagles are 105-26 in sets against league foes in that time, with 15 of those set losses against Creighton, meaning they've gone 100-11 in sets against everyone else.

Witt Keeps On Digging
Senior Brittany Witt has eight matches this fall with 20 or more matches, giving her 26 in her career. That ranks fourth-most in team history.
   Witt is tied for second in program history with four career matches of 30 or more digs.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
   20+D   Name   Years
   41   Kate Elman   2012-15
   32   Julianne Mandolfo      2010-11
   27   Bianca Rivera   2007-08
   26   Brittany Witt   2016-Pres.
   20   Janeen Piller   2001-04
   19   Nayka Benitez   2009-10

Matches With 30+ Digs, Career
   30+D   Name   Years
   9   Julianne Mandolfo   2010-11
   4   Janeen Piller   2001-04
   4   Bianca Rivera   2007-08
   4   Nayka Benitez   2009-10
   4   Brittany Witt   2016-Pres.
   2   Kate Elman   2012-15
   1   Melissa Weisensee   1994-97
   1   Melissa Walsh   1998-01
   1   Melanie Jereb   2012-15

Match 1 of Weekend vs. Match 2
One of the challenges of going on the road in the BIG EAST is typically having to play matches on back-to-back days, without the benefit of a travel day in between that Creighton opponents are afforded when they come to Omaha.
   Creighton, however, has managed to enjoy success, regardless of when it plays on the road.
    Since joining the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton is 54-8 in league road matches. That includes a 23-7 mark in its first road game of a multi-game weekend, and a 29-1 record (with 26 straight wins) when playing a second road day in a row. CU is also 2-0 in single matches against travel partners that don't have an accompanying match.
   Creighton is also 60-2 in league home matches, including a 26-1 mark (with 24 straight wins) when playing the first match of a three-day weekend, as well as a 26-1 mark (with 19 straight wins) when playing two days later. Creighton is also 2-0 when playing a solo home match, and 3-0 both on day one and day two when playing on consecutive days at home without a break.

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the second straight season, Creighton was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST. Last year CU was picked second and went 18-0 in league play en route to a fifth straight regular-season title.
   This year a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Marquette the favorite with 80 points and eight first-place votes, edging out Creighton's 73 points and two first-place votes. St. John's was picked third in the league's preseason poll, with Villanova fourth and Butler fifth. Rounding out the poll are Georgetown, DePaul, Seton Hall, Xavier and Providence.
   Creighton also had three women named to the 12 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole and Brittany Witt were all honored. It was the third straight preseason honor for Witt.
   Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 15 of 17 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
2019   2nd   1st   #1

What's The Difference?
En route to its league titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, Creighton has compiled a 102-6 record in BIG EAST regular-season play. The Jays won those five titles by a combined 13.5 games over their nearest competitors, meaning if you took the record for the best second-place club each year they'd be 88-19.

Sweeeeeeeeeep!!!
Creighton swept 14-of-18 matches at all sites in BIG EAST play last season, and has swept 17 of its last 21 regular-season home matches against league foes dating to 2017.
   During Creighton's 45-match home winning streak in league play, the Bluejays have dropped only 17 (of 152) sets at home, with nine of those setbacks coming in set two.
   Creighton is 41-4 in set one, 36-9 in set two, 42-3 in set three, 11-1 in set four and 4-0 in set five during that home streak in league play, which means they are 87-7 in sets that they spend at least some time on the south bench.
   During this 45-match regular-season home win streak in league play, only one opponent has won more than three sets against CU in Omaha, Villanova (4).
   In Creighton's 124 all-time regular-season BIG EAST matches at all sites, Creighton is 72-5 in three-set matches, 30-2 in four-set matches and 12-3 in five-set contests.

Nice Work, Ace
In 36 regular-season league matches since the start of last fall, Creighton allowed three aces or less in 26 of them, and one ace or less 13 times.
   Creighton has served more aces than its opponent in 31-of-36 league matches in that time, and was tied on two other occasions.
   The Bluejays have won 91 of its last 93 matches against BIG EAST foes when owning more aces than its competition since a Nov. 1, 2013 loss to St. John's.

Any Venue Will Do
Since joining the BIG EAST, Creighton has a .570 winning percentage 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)   88-14
Al McGuire Center (MU)   9-3
Hinkle Fieldhouse (BU)   8-1
Carnesecca Arena (SJU)   7-0
McGrath-Phillips Arena (DPU)   7-0
McDonough Arena (GU)   7-0
Cintas Center (XU)   7-0
Alumni Hall (PC)   6-0
Walsh Gym (SHU)   5-2
Jake Nevin Field House (VU)   4-3

Only JoDe & Jaali More Quickly Than Keeley
Keeley Davis surpassed the 100 kill milestone during the 10th match of her career on Sept. 21 vs. Wyoming. Only two women in program history have gotten there in fewer matches, JoDe Cieloha (8 matches) and Jaali Winters (9).
   Davis surpassed 200 career kills vs. Xavier on Oct. 20 in her 18th career match, tied for third-fastest ever to that milestone. Erica Kostelac did it on Oct. 26 in her 20th match to rank sixth on that list.
   Davis reached 300 kills in her 27th career match, tying her for fourth-fastest.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Kills (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
JoDe Cieloha   8   09/23/94   at Drake
Jaali Winters   9   9/12/15   Pacific
Melissa Walsh   10   09/26/98   at Bradley
Carolyn Decker   10   09/18/04   Illinois State
Keeley Davis   10   09/21/19   Wyoming
Allie Oelke   11   09/15/07   vs. Charlotte

Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Kills (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Jaali Winters   15   9/27/15   Villanova
Melissa Walsh   16   10/16/98   at Indiana State
Keeley Davis   18   10/20/19   Xavier
JoDe Cieloha   18   10/30/94   at UMKC
Allie Oelke   18   10/06/07   at Southern Illinois
Erica Kostelac   20   10/26/19   at Providence
Shelly Kapler   22   11/09/96   at Bradley

Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Kills (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Jaali Winters   21   10/16/15   at Butler
Melissa Walsh   23   11/08/98   at UMKC
JoDe Cieloha   26   09/02/95   vs. Green Bay
Allie Oelke   27   11/09/07   at Missouri State
Keeley Davis   27   11/22/19   #9 Marquette
Shelly Kapler   30   09/05/97   vs. UTSA

Iron Woman Witt
Brittany Witt has played in all 463 sets that Creighton's participated in since enrolling on campus in the fall of 2016.
   Witt is just the fourth woman in program history to have played in every set the team has played in over any four-year span; Lauren Smith (511 from 2013-16), Megan Bober (480 from 2009-12) and Korie Lebeda (428 from 2005-08).

September To Remember
Creighton went 9-1 in September. It was just the second month in program history with a .900 winning percentage or better in 10+ matches, joining October of 2015.
   With two victories at the BIG EAST Championship, Creighton would finish off a 9-1 month of November.
Best Winning Percentage, Month (Min. 10 Matches)
   Pct.   W-L   Month, Year
   .909   10-1   October 2015
   .900   9-1   September 2019
   .818   9-2   September, 2018
   .769   10-3   September 2006
   .750   9-3   September, 2012

Ballenger Can Block
Megan Ballenger tied her career-high with eight blocks on Sept. 19 vs. Wichita State, then established a new best with nine rejections two days later vs. Wyoming.
   She became the first Bluejay with eight or more blocks in consecutive contests since Kelli Browning did so on Oct. 3-4, 2014.
   Ballenger, owns 365 blocks in her career, good for 10th on CU's all-time list.

Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including last 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 370-2 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa and two other match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date   Opponent   MP(s) Faced   Final Set 5
08/30/03   vs. McNeese State   13-14, 15-16   18-16
10/10/03   Wichita State   13-14   16-14
10/13/06   at Wichita State   12-14, 13-14, 14-15   17-15
09/11/07   at Drake   13-14, 14-15   17-15
08/26/11   vs. UTSA   12-14, 13-14   16-14
11/16/12   at Wichita State   13-14   16-14
09/20/15   Kansas State   23-24 (4th set)   15-13
11/20/15   at Georgetown   23-24, 26-27 (4th set)   15-7
08/24/18   vs. #5 Kentucky   16-15, 19-18   22-20

Booth Earns 350th Win at Creighton
Kirsten Bernthal Booth picked up her 350th victory at Creighton on Sept. 13 with a 3-0 triumph over Nebraska-Omaha. The victory gave her a record of 350-167.
   Booth has beaten 89 different schools while at Creighton, adding USC, Nebraska-Omaha and Wyoming this season.
   Here's a look at Booth's record at the time of some of her milestone victories at Creighton:
W-L   Opponent   Date
1-1   vs. Auburn (in Ames, Iowa)   08/30/03
50-43   Jacksonville State   09/01/06
100-71   at Drake   10/31/08
150-108   Illinois State   09/30/11
200-123   Xavier   10/18/13
250-144   at Xavier   10/17/15
300-157   Villanova   09/24/17
350-167   Nebraska-Omaha   09/13/19

Just A Few Streaks...
- Creighton has won 83 straight matches against unranked teams when winning set one.
- Creighton has won 59 straight home matches against unranked teams and is 104-4 in its last 108 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
- Creighton has also won 38 matches in a row against teams that enter the match with a record below .500.

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 third-most of any team in the nation, and trailed only preseason No. 1 Stanford and Wichita State's six. Among the other teams with five ranked non-conference foes are 2019 Bluejay opponents Kentucky, Northern Iowa and Washington.
   The Bluejays met up with preseason No. 2 Nebraska, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 USC and No. 20 Baylor in 2019.
   This is the seventh straight season that Creighton will face four or more non-conference foes that are in the preseason Top 25.

Top 25 x 3
Creighton was the only volleyball team in the nation to start the season by playing three different ranked teams, as it met No. 2 Nebraska, No. 20 Baylor and No. 12 Kentucky.
   Illinois also opened with three straight matches against ranked teams, but two of those were against Tennessee in back-to-back contests.
   This season marks the first time that Creighton's first three matches of the season have come against top-25 competition.

Top 25 x 5
Per research by Liberty SID Joe Carmany and Texas SID Jocelyn VerVelde, Creighton was one of three teams to open the year with five straight matches against teams that ended the 2018 campaign with a top-25 RPI.
   USC and Texas are also among that group.
Creighton: Nebraska, Baylor, Kentucky, UNI, USC
USC: Texas State, Texas, Kentucky, UNI, Creighton
Texas: UNI, USC, Minnesota, Stanford, BYU

100+ Starts For Ballenger and Cole
Senior middle blocker Megan Ballenger has made 124 career starts, including each of Creighton's last 91 contests. The last time she didn't start came on Sept. 3, 2016 against USC.
   Ballenger 124 career starts is fifth in program history. The school record is 138 starts, set last year by Ballenger's former high school and college teammate, Jaali Winters.
   Ballenger's senior teammate Madelyn Cole has made 117 career starts (including 112 straight) when you factor in 54 starts before transferring in from Marshall.

Select Company
The BIG EAST's Creighton and Marquette are two of 15 teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments (2012-19). That group features BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, 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 (2015-18). 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.
   Creighton is one of just nine programs to have spent at least one week in the AVCA Top 10 in each of the last four seasons, (2016-19) a list that consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin.

Ranked To Start The Year
Creighton started this season ranked No. 18 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It's the sixth time in the past seven campaigns that CU's been ranked in the preseason AVCA poll, and fourth straight fall.
   Only 12 teams have been ranked in the preseason each of the last four years: BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Those same 12 teams are the only programs to be ranked in the preseason in six of the last seven campaigns.
   Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the last 11 seasons (entering 2019), only 197-of-275 teams (71.6 percent) would be in both the preseason and postseason AVCA Top 25 polls.
   Since 2008, all but 31 teams (of 300) named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (89.7 percent), which includes 2019.
   The only previous time that Creighton Volleyball was ranked 18th in the preseason was the 2016 campaign, which saw the Bluejays reach the Elite Eight.
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
   2019   18th   TBD   TBD

Setting The Table
For just the second time in the last eight years, Creighton started the same opening day setter in consecutive seasons.
   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.
   Last year Madelyn Cole started the season-opener against No. 5 Kentucky, producing a double-double in the five-set victory. She had another double-double in this year's lid-lifter against No. 2 Nebraska.
   The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the eight seasons (including 2019) ended in the NCAA Tournament, and seven of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
   Creighton won six of those eight season-opening matches.

2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 307-10 (.968) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 250-4 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 177-2 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 92-0 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
   Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets in 2018 won 94.8 percent of their matches, and have won 95.0 percent of their matches in the last 10 years.
   Conversely, the Jays are 14-199 (.066) 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

Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 308-30 (.911) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 62-140 (.307) under Booth when it drops the first set.
   Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches last season, and 20.2 percent of their matches in the previous 10 seasons.
   Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 102-2 in its last 104 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 24-2 when winning the first set and 5-3 when dropping the opener.
   This year's team is 21-0 when winning the first set, but is 3-5 when dropping the opener.
   Creighton has won 83 straight matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.

Third Set's A Charm
One key factor to watch in 2018 was the result of the third set.
   Creighton was 26-0 last season when winning the third set, but 3-4 when dropping the third set.
   This year's team is 20-1 when taking the third frame, and 4-4 when losing the third set.
   Since an Oct. 10, 2014 loss at Seton Hall, Creighton is a perfect 95-0 against BIG EAST teams (87-0 in the regular-season and 8-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third set.

Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 57-29 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 15 of its last 19 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, a 2018 win at Butler and wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette this fall.
   It's also worth noting that Creighton is 12-3 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
   Creighton is currently 2-0 this year in five set matches. The Bluejays have gone unbeaten in five set matches just once previously, in 2004.
   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
2019   2-0   24-5
Total   72-57   463-322

Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played 13 matches against 2017 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 8-5 against such teams.
   This year's team is scheduled to play eight matches against teams that played in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, and currently is 5-3 in those contests.
   After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 83-98 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
2019   5-3
TOTAL   86-133
TOTAL Under Booth   83-98

Marian Pipeline
This is the 17th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as senior Brittany Witt returns and is joined by freshman Emily Bressman. It's also the eighth straight season with multiple Marian grads.
   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.
2019: Emily Bressman, Brittany Witt
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 9-of-15 letterwinners to the court from last season, including three starters and libero Brittany Witt.
   From last year's team, only Samantha Bohnet, Taryn Kloth, Kelsey O'Connell, Jaali Winters, Kari Zumach (transferred to Indiana and Alexa Roumeliotis (transferred to Colorado State) are not back.
   Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat   Returners   Departures
Assists   1485 (94.5%)   87 (5.5%)
Blocks   190 (67.7%)   90.5 (32.3%)
Aces   122 (59.8%)   82 (40.2%)
Matches Started   110 (53.9%)   94 (46.1%)
Digs   960 (49.9%)   963 (50.1%)
Points   927 (42.7%)   1246.5 (57.3%)
Kills   615 (36.4%)   1074 (63.6%)

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 370 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history, through November 30th.
Coach, Sport   Victories
Brent Vigness, Softball   777*
Mary Higgins, Softball   564
Ed Servais, Baseball   558*
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis   445*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball   370*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball   333*
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball   327
*still active coaching at Creighton

Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Creighton collected eight non-conference wins in 2018 for the first time since the 2013 team went 9-3.
   Creighton is 6-9 against ranked non-conference foes over the last three seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
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
2019   7-3   2-3   TBD

You Dig?
They say that defense wins championships, and that's certainly proven true for Creighton.
   Creighton has won 93 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the dig battle, a streak that dates to Oct. 10, 2014 at Seton Hall.
   All but five of Creighton's last 89 matches (against all foes) have been won by the team with more digs, which goes back to Sept. 15, 2017.

This and That
Amaze your friends and neighbors with these nuggets...
• 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. She is the nation's only coach to be honored three of the last four seasons.
• This year marks the fifth straight campaign Creighton has beaten multiple top-25 programs.
• Creighton finished last season ranked 11th nationally in average home attendance (2,802).
• Naomi Hickman is averaging 2.14 kills per set while hitting .432 in seven matches this season against top-20 competition.
• Since joining the BIG EAST, Creighton Volleyball has 10 or more regular-season wins against each league foe, In that same time, the Bluejays have lost 10 total regular-season league matches.
• Despite owning 31 kills at Marquette on Oct. 12, Keeley Davis had kills on back-to-back points just once in the entire match (3-2 and 4-2 in the fifth set).

#15 Volleyball Returns To NCAA Tournament To Face Iowa State

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Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Samantha Bohnet

Emily Bressman

Madelyn Cole

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Taryn Kloth

Erica Kostelac

Kelsey O'Connell

Alexa Roumeliotis

Megan Sharkey

Annika Welty

Jaali Winters

Brittany Witt

Jaela Zimmerman

Kari Zumach