#15 Volleyball Seeks Sweet 16 Spot at #7 Minnesota on Saturday

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Dec. 7   8:00 p.m.   #15 Creighton at #7 Minnesota (BTN)   Minneapolis, Minn. (Maturi Pavilion) | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | TICKETS |

- No. 15 Creighton (25-5) meets No. 7 Minnesota (24-5) in Second Round action of the 2019 NCAA Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 8 p.m.
   The match will be held in Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn., and be televised on BTN.

-    After last night's win, Creighton is now 11-8 in nine NCAA Tournament appearances. Creighton is 8-1 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, 7-2 in neutral-site matches and 2-4 in true road matches.

- Creighton is 0-4 all-time against Minnesota, with three of the match-ups taking place at Maturi Pavilion. Two of those setbacks came in the NCAA Tournament, as the Gophers eliminated CU in the Second Round in both 2010 (3-0) and 2012 (3-1).

- Creighton is now 3-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament matches held in Minneapolis at Maturi Pavilion, including two wins over Iowa State. Both losses have come to Minnesota.

- Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 11-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is the only Bluejay head coach to lead the program into the postseason.
   Booth is 371-170 as Creighton head coach, having beaten 89 different schools. She is 0-4 all-time against Minnesota, however.

- Creighton can reach the Sweet 16 for the third time in the past five seasons with a win on Saturday night. The Bluejays reached the Regional semifinals (Sweet 16) for the first time in 2015 and advanced to the Regional Final (Elite 8) for the first time in 2016.

- Last night's win was Creighton's 20th win in its last 22 matches, and 25th in 28 tries since starting the season 0-2.

- Creighton is one of 13 schools to have won an NCAA Tournament match each of the last five seasons. That group includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, USC, Washington and Wisconsin.

- Last night's win clinched Creighton's sixth consecutive season of 25 or more wins. Nationally, only Creighton, BYU and Florida have had 25+ wins every season since 2014.

-    In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the host team in Creighton's opening weekend failed to advance to the Sweet 16, a trend it certainly hopes will continue on Saturday night.
   No other school in the nation (besides Creighton) has been part of three or more first weekend sites since 2015 where the host did not advance.

- 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.

- Creighton and Minnesota have played one common opponent this fall. The Bluejays lost in four sets at Nebraska in the season-opener on Aug. 30, while the Gophers dropped a home match against the Cornhuskers on Nov. 22nd.

- Creighton's senior quartet consists of Megan Ballenger, Madelyn Cole, Megan Sharkey and Brittany Witt. 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 1,119 kills, 2,981 assists, 2,938 digs, 267 aces and 505 blocks in a Bluejay uniform while helping CU to a 136-33 overall record since Ballenger enrolled, and a 109-24 mark since Ballenger and Witt began playing.
   Ballenger and Witt have each played in six NCAA Tournament wins. The only Creighton players with more are Taryn Kloth and Jaali Winters, who both played in seven from 2015-18.

- Creighton owns a sparkling 109-24 record since the start of the 2016 season, which puts CU tied for seventh nationally in victories in that span. Minnesota is one victory behind with 108, tied for ninth with Penn State.
   Brittany Witt has played in all 109 victories, and Megan Ballenger has played in 107 wins since she missed a pair of victories in 2016.
   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
   109-24   2016-Present
   107-32   2014-17

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

           Most Wins Since Start of 2016 Season (12/6)
   Rk.   Wins   Team   Next Match
   1.   118   Nebraska   12/7
   2.   116   BYU   12/7
   3.   116   Stanford   12/7
   4.   113   Western Kentucky   Season Over
   5.   111   Pittsburgh   12/7
   6.   110   Florida   12/13
   7.   109   Creighton   12/7
       109   Stephen F. Austin   Season Over
   9.   108   Penn State   12/7
       108   Minnesota   12/7

- Creighton entered Friday having hit just .210 in the six matches since Erica Kostelac was injured at Georgetown and hadn't hit better than .270 in any of those contests.
   On Friday, the Bluejays hit .366 against an Iowa State team that had allowed allowed only one team all season to hit .340 or better against the Cyclones, with that being then-No. 3 Baylor (.379) on Nov. 3.
   Creighton's .366 hitting was its second-best mark ever in an NCAA Tournament match, trailing only a .375 figure in last season's First Round sweep over South Dakota.

- 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 112-27 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 14-17 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself.
   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

- Creighton is 4-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament play against top-25 foes. One of the wins came inside Maturi Pavilion (vs. #16 Iowa State in 2010), while two others came in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament (at #23 North Carolina in 2015 and at #4 Kansas in 2016).
   Creighton vs. Ranked Teams in the Postseason
Event   Date   Opponent   Result
NCAA   12/03/10   vs. #16 Iowa State   W 3-2
NCAA   12/04/12   at #12 Minnesota   L 0-3
NCAA   12/01/12   at #11 Minnesota   L 1-3
NCAA   12/07/13   at #23 Kansas   L 1-3
NCAA   12/05/15   at #23 North Carolina   W 3-1
NCAA   12/11/15   vs. #2 USC   L 1-3
NCAA   12/02/16   at #4 Kansas   W 3-2
NCAA   12/09/16   vs. #17 Michigan   W 3-2
NCAA   12/10/16   at #5 Texas   L 0-3
NCAA   12/02/17   #12 Michigan State   L 1-3
NCAA   12/01/18   #22 Washington   L 0-3

- Last night's win improved Creighton to 8-4 against teams in the field of 64 this season, with six of those wins coming away from home. The Bluejays are 1-3 in four matches against national seeds this fall, with the win coming over Kentucky on a neutral floor.
   In 12 matches against NCAA Tournament teams this fall, Keeley Davis has averaged 3.38 kills per set, with Jaela Zimmerman (2.82 kps.) and Erica Kostelac (2.74 kps.) not far behind. Madelyn Cole has averaged 11.33 assists per set, and Naomi Hickman averages 1.98 kills and 1.09 blocks per set on .358 hitting. Defensively, Brittany Witt has averaged 5.20 digs per set.

- Last night was Creighton's third 3-0 victory in NCAA Tournament play. The Bluejays swept Marquette in 2012 in Minneapolis, and South Dakota last fall in Omaha. All three sweeps have come in the First Round.

- Creighton is back in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament despite a major overhaul on the offensive end since last year.
   Creighton's lineup on Friday contained players who combined for just 14 of CU's 46 kills in last year's First Round win vs. South Dakota. On Friday, all 46 of Creighton's kills vs. Iowa State came by women who were on the 2018 roster.

- Brittany Witt enters Saturday's match vs. Minnesota with 2,053 career digs. That puts her one shy of tying and two shy of breaking Kate Elman's school record of 2,054 career digs. Elman preceded Witt as libero at both Omaha Marian High School, as well as at Creighton.
   Witt has played in 133 matches as a Bluejay, and had three or more digs in each one.
   Witt did become Creighton's all-time digs leader in NCAA Tournament play on Friday. Her 15 digs give her 144 in her career, 10 more than Jaali Winters from 2015-18.

- Junior Naomi Hickman has been dominant against top-25 foes this season, averaging 2.14 kills and 1.07 blocks per set to the tune of a .432 hitting percentage.
   That includes Hickman's career-high 17 kills in a win over No. 12 Kentucky, career-high .733 hitting in a 3-1 victory over No. 15 USC, and a career-high 11 blocks in a win over No. 10 Marquette.

- Annika Welty's hitting percentage climbed from .133 to .164 following a big match on Friday night vs. Iowa State. Welty, who missed 10 weeks and 22 matches due to an injury, finished with a career-best nine kills on .500 hitting in 14 swings.

- With an ace yesterday, Madelyn Cole joined Molly Moran (1998-2001) as the program's only player with multiple seasons of 40+ aces.
   Moran (0.425 aces per set) and Cole (0.416 aces per set) are the only two Bluejays in program history to average more than 0.353 aces per set over the course of a career.
   Speaking of aces, Brittany Witt's three service winners yesterday gave the senior 121 aces in her career. That's four aces shy of a tie for second-place in program history with Melissa Weisensee (1994-97). Molly Moran holds the CU record with 145 aces.

- Sophomore Jaela Zimmerman has been Creighton's top offensive weapon of late, producing double-figure kills in each of CU's last six matches. In that span, she's averaged 4.00 kills per set on .256 hitting.
   A top-50 recruit out of high school, Zimmerman's only playing time in last year's NCAA Tournament came as a defensive specialist, when she appeared in only half of the six sets CU played.

- Creighton has never beaten Minnesota, but the Bluejays have never faced the Golden Gophers with assistant coach Craig Dyer as part of their staff.
   Dyer was an assistant on Penn State teams then went 2-1 against the Gophers over the 2016 and 2017 seasons, including a Nittany Lions victory at Maturi Pavilion in 2017.

#15 Volleyball Seeks Sweet 16 Spot at #7 Minnesota on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Madelyn Cole

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Taryn Kloth

Erica Kostelac

Megan Sharkey

Annika Welty

Jaali Winters

Brittany Witt

Jaela Zimmerman