Creighton University Athletics
Friday, January 29
Omaha, Neb.
7:00 PM
Creighton University
vs
South Dakota
Kiara Reinhardt
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
#14 Volleyball To Play Home & Home Series vs. South Dakota This Weekend
1/27/2021 3:00:00 PM | Volleyball
Bluejays and Coyotes last met in the 2018 NCAA Tournament
This Weekend
Jan. 29 7:00 pm South Dakota at #14 Creighton Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CREIGHTON NOTES
Jan. 31 2:00 pm #14 Creighton at South Dakota Vermillion, S.D. (Sanford Coyote Sports Center)
LIVE VIDEO | CBS MOBILE APP VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CREIGHTON NOTES
This Weekend
No. 14 Creighton (2-0) meets up with South Dakota (0-2) for a rare home-and-home series this weekend.
Creighton hosts the Coyotes on Friday at 7 p.m. inside D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center in Omaha, Neb.
On Sunday at 2 p.m., the same two teams will meet up in Vermillion, S.D., inside the Sanford Coyotes Sports Center.
Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend will be video webcast at no charge. Friday's match can be seen at https://youtu.be/puN09M8IWJo. Jake Ryan and Kate Elman will announce Friday's match.
Sunday's broadcast will be broadcast at https://goyotes.com/watch/?Live=1052. The game will also be televised by Midco Sports Network.
Live Stats Information
Both matches will have free live stats available.
Friday: http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com
Sunday: https://goyotes.com/sidearmstats/wvball/media
Fans can also find the links on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #14 Creighton
Ranked 14th nationally, Creighton is off to a 2-0 start after sweeping both Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Iowa last week.
The Bluejay offense was led by Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.83 kps., 2.67 dps., 1.50 bps.) and Keeley Davis (3.17 kps., 2.17 dps.).
Two other senior starters to be mindful of are Naomi Hickman (1.50 kps., 1.67 bps.) and Erica Kostelac (1.40 kps., 0.60 saps.).
Mahina Pua'a (4.83 aps.) and Ally Van Eekeren (4.67 aps., 1.33 kps., .615%) split time at setter in CU's 5-2 offense, and Grace Nelson (3.50 dps.) and Ellie Bolton (2.00 dps.) each logged time at libero.
Creighton went 25-6 in the fall of 2019, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament, in a season that saw the Bluejays win a sixth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. Gone from that team are three seniors with a wealth of experience who each earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors in 2019: middle hitter Megan Ballenger (2.07 kps., 0.97 bps.), setter Madelyn Cole (11.03 aps., 0.39 saps.) and libero Brittany Witt (5.09 dps.).
Creighton has been picked to win the Midwest Division of the BIG EAST Conference.
Scouting South Dakota
South Dakota is 0-2 this season after falling vs. Wichita State (3-0) and Missouri State (3-2) in Springfield, Mo., last weekend. Three of the six sets that USD lost required extra points.
Elizabeth Juhnke (4.50 kps., 3.50 dps.) ranks as one of the top outside hitters around, and she's supported by Nebraska transfer Sami Slaughter (2.25 kps., 1.00 bps.).
Madison Jurgens (9.13 aps.) directs the offense and Lolo Weideman (3.88 dps.) tops the team in digs.
As a team, South Dakota averages 11.63 kills, 17.00 digs, 2.38 blocks and 1.88 aces per set while hitting .177 as a team.
Last season USD went 31-3 and a perfect 16-0 in Summit League play, but missed the NCAA Tournament after being upset in the conference tournament semifinals by Nebraska-Omaha. Juhnke (4.23 kps.) and Slaughter (3.39 kips.) led last year's squad, which lost in the finals of the NIVC.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 373-171 record in her 18th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to six straight outright BIG EAST titles, and seven league crowns in the previous 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 nine seasons, 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 Justin Dueck.
Series History vs. South Dakota
Creighton is 4-1 against South Dakota in the Division I era, with the first such meeting taking place in 2011.
CU is 3-1 in Omaha against the Coyotes and 1-0 on a neutral floor. Sunday will be CU's first trip to Vermillion in the Division I era.
The teams last met on Nov. 30, 2018, when Creighton swept South Dakota in an NCAA Tournament match in Omaha.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 4-1 all-time against USD and 1-1 against Leanne Williamson. Williamson is 1-1 against Creighton.
The records above do account for scores from four meetings in the 1970's dug up by USD SID Jason Cowley, each of which was won by Creighton.
Last Meeting Was A Fun One
Friday marks the first meeting between Creighton and South Dakota since Nov. 30, 2018, when the Bluejays swept the Coyotes in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament (25-14, 25-14, 25-22).
Creighton's used nine women in that match, but the only current player to appear was Naomi Hickman (4 kills, 7 blocks).
For South Dakota, Claire Gerdes (2 kills, 1 dig), Madison Jurgens (30 assists, 4 digs) and Lolo Weideman (6 digs) all played that night.
Creighton All-American Taryn Kloth -- a South Dakota native -- led the Bluejays with 16 kills on .696 hitting to pace the victors.
Starting Strong At Home
This year marked the eighth time that Creighton started with each of its first two matches at home, but it's the first time the Bluejays started 2-0 in one of those seasons.
Regardless of site, Creighton hasn't started 3-0 since 2017 and has not opened 4-0 since 2013.
The last time Creighton started 3-0 with three sweeps was 2006.
Creighton has never started 4-0 with four sweeps.
Zimmerman's Hot Start
Jaela Zimmerman averaged 3.83 kills, 2.67 digs and 1.50 blocks per set to help Creighton sweep matches vs. Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Iowa last weekend.
Zimmerman had 11 kills and 12 digs in Friday's season-opening win vs. UNO while tying her career-best with six blocks.
The Preseason All-BIG EAST choice then had a match-high 12 blocks and hit .320 as Creighton swept defending MVC champion Northern Iowa. Zimmerman added four digs, three blocks and two aces in the victory.
Setting The Table
Creighton used a pair of setters to run the offense last weekend, with Mahina Pua'a and Ally Van Eekeren rotating in for each other.
Pua'a had 29 assists and added six digs and an ace over the two victories.
Van Eekeren registered 28 assists and eight kills on .615 hitting. For her career, Van Eekeren now has 13 kills in 18 errorless swings (.722).
Make It A Dozen
Creighton has won each of its last 12 home matches, tied for the fourth-longest streak in program history. A win on Friday would tie it for the second-longest home win streak in program history. The record is 15 done during the fall of 2018. Creighton's 12-match home win streak is tied for the nation's fifth-longest active streak, as well.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2015 #4 Kansas, 3-2
12 Sept. 19, 2019 - Present ? ? ?
10 Sept. 2-Dec. 1, 2017 #12 Michigan State, 3-1
Nation's Longest Active Home Win Streaks
Wins School Next Home Match
26 Baylor 2/25 vs. North Texas
16 Wisconsin 2/5 vs. Rutgers
16 Wright State 2/1 vs. Northern Kentucky
15 Georgia Tech 3/14 vs. North Carolina
12 Creighton 1/29 vs. South Dakota
12 New Mexico State 2/15 vs. Grand Canyon
11 Nebraska 1/29 vs. Northwestern
10 Coastal Carolina TBD
10 Syracuse 3/5 vs. North Carolina
10 Dixie State 2/1 vs. UTRGV
Going Back-to-Back
This weekend starts an unusual stretch where Creighton will play the same team in back-to-back matches six times in the next seven weekends.
Since restarting its program in 1994 Creighton has played 789 matches, but only once has the team played the same non-conference foe twice in a row.
That came in 2011 at the Texas A&M Invitational, when CU met the host Aggies on both August 26 and August 27 after a potential fourth team in that event dropped out.
Creighton has also played Providence on consecutive nights in each of the last four seasons in league play, winning all eight matches.
Season Opening History
Last Friday's win vs. Nebraska-Omaha improved Creighton to 17-10 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994, and 13-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton will enter Sunday's match at South Dakota with an 11-15 mark in road openers, including a 10-7 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Familiar Face
Senior Naomi Hickman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past four years, becoming the 16th player to start four season openers.
Four Opening Day Starts
Name Years
JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
Shelly Kapler 1996-99
Erin Swanson 1998-01
Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Carolyn Decker 2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda 2005-08
Jessica Houts 2006-09
Allie Oelke 2007-10
Heather Thorson 2009-12
Megan Bober 2009-12
Jess Bird 2013-16
Lauren Smith 2013-16
Jaali Winters 2015-18
Naomi Hickman 2017-20
Hello World!
All five Creighton newcomers made their Bluejay debuts last weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the case of Erica Kostelac, Grace Nelson and Mahina Pua'a).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2019 Keeley Davis 4 13 7 47 .128 0 2 2 0
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2017 Naomi Hickman• 3 5 2 8 .375 0 0 3 1
2019 Erica Kostelac• 4 5 2 15 .200 1 1 9 1
2017% Erica Kostelac 3 4 2 9 .222 0 0 1 0
2018 Jaela Zimmerman 5 1 1 6 .000 0 0 6 0
2018 Annika Welty 3 1 1 6 .000 0 0 1 0
2019 Emily Bressman• 4 1 2 6 -.167 1 0 5 0
2020 Mahina Pua'a• 3 0 0 1 .000 15 1 2 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2019 Ally VanEekeren 3 0 0 0 --- 0 1 0 0
2017# Grace Nelson• 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2018 Grace Nelson 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2020 Megan Skovsende 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2019$ Mahina Pua'a 4 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2019 Makenna Krause 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
#Nelson's stats from debut at Ball State
%Kostelac's stats from debut at Cincinnati
$Pua'a stats from debut at Arizona
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kiara Reinhardt last weekend, Creighton has started 12 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 16 such players since 2000.
Since 2000, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005), Allie Oelke (2007), Brooke Boggs (2009), Heather Thorson (2009), Julianne Mandolfo (2010), Katie Neisler (2011), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013), Jaali Winters (2015), Naomi Hickman (2017), Emily Bressman (2019) and Kiara Reinhardt (2020). In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as transfers Maggie Baumert (2014), Lydia Dimke (2016), Madelyn Cole (2018), Erica Kosetelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
Seven of those women (Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team (the BIG EAST has no such team). Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015, Dimke was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2016 and Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019.
Production Returns
Creighton returns 10-of-14 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters.
From last year's team, only Megan Ballenger, Madlyn Cole, Megan Sharkey and Brittany Witt are not back.
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Kills 1193 (79.5%) 307 (20.5%)
Points 1437.0 (75.1%) 476.0 (24.9%)
Matches Started 124 (66.7%) 62 (33.3%)
Aces 110 (59.5%) 75 (40.5%)
Blocks 134 (58.8%) 94.0 (41.2%)
Digs 793 (47.7%) 868 (52.3%)
Assists 101 (7.2%) 1297 (92.8%)
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 five NCAA Tournaments (2015-19). 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, 2018 and 2019. That list includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Creighton is one of 13 schools with eight straight seasons of 20+ wins (2012-19). That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, 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 eight seasons (2012-19). That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Texas.
Creighton is one of just three schools nationally who have won 25 matches or more in each of the previous six seasons (2014-19). That group consists of BYU, Creighton and Florida.
Creighton is one of just nine programs to have spent at least one week in the AVCA Top 10 in each of the previous 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. 15 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It was the seventh time in the past eight campaigns that CU's been ranked in the preseason AVCA poll, and fifth straight season.
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 seven of the last eight campaigns.
Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the last 12 seasons, only 214-of-300 teams (71.3 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).
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 25-6 16th
2020 15th TBA TBA
Top 25 History
Creighton is 18-79 all-time against teams in the top-25 of the AVCA poll, but 13-13 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 lost its first 31 true road matches against top-25 foes, but has 'improved' to 6-38 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 114-28 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 14-18 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.
The Bluejays are also 7-32 all-time in all matches against top-10 foes (7-25 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).
Since the start of the 2012 season, 33 of Creighton's 56 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 199-23 against unranked teams. Creighton has won 61 straight home matches over unranked teams and all but two of its last 50 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Top 25 Jays
Creighton was ranked 14th in the January 26th AVCA poll. The Bluejays have now been ranked in 70 all-time polls, and every poll since Oct. 31, 2016.
Creighton has spent 21 weeks in program history in the top 10, which includes 12 consecutive weeks in 2018. CU's all-time best ranking in program history is No. 7, which came in the poll released on Aug. 28, 2017.
Creighton is one of just nine programs to have spent at least one week in the AVCA Top 10 in each of the previous four seasons, a list that consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin.
Creighton is in the top 25 of the AVCA poll for the 56th 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
560 Stanford 3
560 Nebraska 5
477 Penn State 9
450 Florida 10
254 Texas 2
109 Wisconsin 1
108 BYU 16
79 Minnesota 7
60 Kentucky 4
56 Creighton 14
Setting The Table
Creighton started a different setter in its season-opening match for the seventh time in the past nine seasons when Mahina Pua'a got the nod last Friday vs. Nebraska-Omaha.
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, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous eight seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and six of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Creighton has won seven of the nine previous season-opening matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including its season-opening win over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 373-3 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa, two match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's, and two match points on Dec. 7, 2019 in an NCAA Tournament loss at No. 7 Minnesota.
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
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 25-6 in a fall 2019 season that saw the Bluejays win a sixth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and one point away from a third trip to the Sweet 16 in the last five years.
The Bluejays had five women earn All-BIG EAST honors. Libero Brittany Witt (5.09 dps.) was named Third Team All-American and earned her second BIG EAST Libero of the Year award. Setter Madelyn Cole (11.02 aps.) was tabbed Honorable-Mention All-American and AVCA East Region Player of the Year. Megan Ballenger (2.07 kps., 0.97 bps.) controlled the middle, and outside hitters Jaela Zimmerman (3.13 kps.) and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Keeley Davis (3.35 kps.) had breakthrough seasons.
Creighton had four wins over teams ranked in the top-15 (No. 9 Marquette, No. 10 Marquette, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 15 USC) and finished 12-1 at home.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Though it has won six straight BIG EAST regular-season titles, this year marks the first time since 2017 that Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST.
Last season CU was picked second and went 17-1 in league play en route to a sixth straight regular-season title.
This spring, a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Creighton as the favorite in the Midwest Division with 3-of-5 first place votes, good for 15 points. That edged our Marquette (14 points, 2 first place votes) and also outdistanced DePaul (8), Xavier (7) and Butler (6).
The East Division was headed by St. John's (16 points, 4 first place votes) and Villanova (13, 1) and rounded out by Connecticut (8), Seton Hall (7) and Providence (6).
Creighton also had three women named to the 13 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Keeley Davis, Erica Kostelac and Jaela Zimmerman were all honored. Zimmerman was a unanimous selection.
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
2020-21 1st ??? ???
Ranked At Year's End, Again
The Creighton Volleyball team finished last season ranked 16th in the year-end American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
It was the fifth straight season that Creighton was ranked in the year-end AVCA poll, something only 10 schools (BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin) can claim.
Creighton has now been ranked in the year-end poll on six occasions. The Bluejays were No. 24 in 2012, No. 19 in 2015, No. 9 in 2016, No. 16 in 2017 and No. 13 in 2018 before the No. 16 ranking in 2019.
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 upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's reconfiguration in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013 (through 1/28/21)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (7) 114 10 186 52
Marquette (7) 100 23 174 60
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
Connecticut# 0 0 0 0
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton has gone unbeaten at home in league play in six of the previous 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 previous 14 seasons. That streak that dates back to its days at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, a site that was torn down five years ago and no longer exists.
Just A Few Streaks...
- Creighton has won 86 straight matches against unranked teams when winning set one.
- Creighton has won 61 straight home matches against unranked teams and is 107-4 in its last 111 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
- Creighton has also won 39 matches in a row against teams that enter the match with a record below .500.
- Creighton owns 12 straight home wins, three shy of the program record set from Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 310-10 (.969) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 253-4 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 180-2 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 94-0 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 won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
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 311-30 (.912) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 62-141 (.305) 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 that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 104-2 in its last 106 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.
Creighton has won 43 matches in a row when winning the first set, compared to a 5-7 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has won 86 straight matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Third Set's A Charm
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 57-30 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 20 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 in 2019.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 12-3 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena..
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 0-0 2-0
Total 72-58 466-323
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played nine matches against 2018 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 5-4 against such teams.
This year's team has five matches (four vs. Marquette, one vs. Northern Iowa) scheduled against teams that made the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 84-99 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 5-4
2020 1-0
TOTAL 87-134
TOTAL Under Booth 84-99
Marian Pipeline
This is the 18th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as sophomore Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive. Believe it or not, this year marks the first time since 2011 that there hasn't been multiple Marian grads.
Each of the last nine 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.
2020: Emily Bressman
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
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.
Creighton is one 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 is one of 13 teams to win a match in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments (2015-19). That group includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, USC, Washington and Wisconsin.
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).
Nine Is Divine
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team 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
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Climbing The List
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became Creighton Volleyball's winningest coach in the program's modern history on August 26, 2007, and hasn't let up.
Booth won her 300th match at CU on Sept. 24 vs. Villanova, and now owns 373 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history.
Coach, Sport Victories
Brent Vigness, Softball 790*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Ed Servais, Baseball 563*
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 462*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 373*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 349*
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel againste elite competition.
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 25-6
2020 2-0 0-0 2-0 so far
Up To Speed on Seeds
Though they weren't a seed in the fall of 2019, 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 seasons.
Creighton, Kentucky, UCLA, and USC have each been national seeds three times in that span.
You Dig?
They say that defense wins championships, and that's certainly proven true for Creighton.
Creighton has won 95 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the dig battle, a streak that dates to Oct. 10, 2014 at Seton Hall.
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 five league foes (Connecticut, 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
Connecticut 0-0 - 0-0
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
Another 20 Win Season
Creighton went 25-6 in 2019. It was 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 is one of 13 schools with eight straight seasons (2012-19) of 20+ wins. That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
Jan. 29 7:00 pm South Dakota at #14 Creighton Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CREIGHTON NOTES
Jan. 31 2:00 pm #14 Creighton at South Dakota Vermillion, S.D. (Sanford Coyote Sports Center)
LIVE VIDEO | CBS MOBILE APP VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CREIGHTON NOTES
This Weekend
No. 14 Creighton (2-0) meets up with South Dakota (0-2) for a rare home-and-home series this weekend.
Creighton hosts the Coyotes on Friday at 7 p.m. inside D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center in Omaha, Neb.
On Sunday at 2 p.m., the same two teams will meet up in Vermillion, S.D., inside the Sanford Coyotes Sports Center.
Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend will be video webcast at no charge. Friday's match can be seen at https://youtu.be/puN09M8IWJo. Jake Ryan and Kate Elman will announce Friday's match.
Sunday's broadcast will be broadcast at https://goyotes.com/watch/?Live=1052. The game will also be televised by Midco Sports Network.
Live Stats Information
Both matches will have free live stats available.
Friday: http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com
Sunday: https://goyotes.com/sidearmstats/wvball/media
Fans can also find the links on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #14 Creighton
Ranked 14th nationally, Creighton is off to a 2-0 start after sweeping both Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Iowa last week.
The Bluejay offense was led by Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.83 kps., 2.67 dps., 1.50 bps.) and Keeley Davis (3.17 kps., 2.17 dps.).
Two other senior starters to be mindful of are Naomi Hickman (1.50 kps., 1.67 bps.) and Erica Kostelac (1.40 kps., 0.60 saps.).
Mahina Pua'a (4.83 aps.) and Ally Van Eekeren (4.67 aps., 1.33 kps., .615%) split time at setter in CU's 5-2 offense, and Grace Nelson (3.50 dps.) and Ellie Bolton (2.00 dps.) each logged time at libero.
Creighton went 25-6 in the fall of 2019, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament, in a season that saw the Bluejays win a sixth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. Gone from that team are three seniors with a wealth of experience who each earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors in 2019: middle hitter Megan Ballenger (2.07 kps., 0.97 bps.), setter Madelyn Cole (11.03 aps., 0.39 saps.) and libero Brittany Witt (5.09 dps.).
Creighton has been picked to win the Midwest Division of the BIG EAST Conference.
Scouting South Dakota
South Dakota is 0-2 this season after falling vs. Wichita State (3-0) and Missouri State (3-2) in Springfield, Mo., last weekend. Three of the six sets that USD lost required extra points.
Elizabeth Juhnke (4.50 kps., 3.50 dps.) ranks as one of the top outside hitters around, and she's supported by Nebraska transfer Sami Slaughter (2.25 kps., 1.00 bps.).
Madison Jurgens (9.13 aps.) directs the offense and Lolo Weideman (3.88 dps.) tops the team in digs.
As a team, South Dakota averages 11.63 kills, 17.00 digs, 2.38 blocks and 1.88 aces per set while hitting .177 as a team.
Last season USD went 31-3 and a perfect 16-0 in Summit League play, but missed the NCAA Tournament after being upset in the conference tournament semifinals by Nebraska-Omaha. Juhnke (4.23 kps.) and Slaughter (3.39 kips.) led last year's squad, which lost in the finals of the NIVC.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 373-171 record in her 18th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to six straight outright BIG EAST titles, and seven league crowns in the previous 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 nine seasons, 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 Justin Dueck.
Series History vs. South Dakota
Creighton is 4-1 against South Dakota in the Division I era, with the first such meeting taking place in 2011.
CU is 3-1 in Omaha against the Coyotes and 1-0 on a neutral floor. Sunday will be CU's first trip to Vermillion in the Division I era.
The teams last met on Nov. 30, 2018, when Creighton swept South Dakota in an NCAA Tournament match in Omaha.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 4-1 all-time against USD and 1-1 against Leanne Williamson. Williamson is 1-1 against Creighton.
The records above do account for scores from four meetings in the 1970's dug up by USD SID Jason Cowley, each of which was won by Creighton.
Last Meeting Was A Fun One
Friday marks the first meeting between Creighton and South Dakota since Nov. 30, 2018, when the Bluejays swept the Coyotes in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament (25-14, 25-14, 25-22).
Creighton's used nine women in that match, but the only current player to appear was Naomi Hickman (4 kills, 7 blocks).
For South Dakota, Claire Gerdes (2 kills, 1 dig), Madison Jurgens (30 assists, 4 digs) and Lolo Weideman (6 digs) all played that night.
Creighton All-American Taryn Kloth -- a South Dakota native -- led the Bluejays with 16 kills on .696 hitting to pace the victors.
Starting Strong At Home
This year marked the eighth time that Creighton started with each of its first two matches at home, but it's the first time the Bluejays started 2-0 in one of those seasons.
Regardless of site, Creighton hasn't started 3-0 since 2017 and has not opened 4-0 since 2013.
The last time Creighton started 3-0 with three sweeps was 2006.
Creighton has never started 4-0 with four sweeps.
Zimmerman's Hot Start
Jaela Zimmerman averaged 3.83 kills, 2.67 digs and 1.50 blocks per set to help Creighton sweep matches vs. Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Iowa last weekend.
Zimmerman had 11 kills and 12 digs in Friday's season-opening win vs. UNO while tying her career-best with six blocks.
The Preseason All-BIG EAST choice then had a match-high 12 blocks and hit .320 as Creighton swept defending MVC champion Northern Iowa. Zimmerman added four digs, three blocks and two aces in the victory.
Setting The Table
Creighton used a pair of setters to run the offense last weekend, with Mahina Pua'a and Ally Van Eekeren rotating in for each other.
Pua'a had 29 assists and added six digs and an ace over the two victories.
Van Eekeren registered 28 assists and eight kills on .615 hitting. For her career, Van Eekeren now has 13 kills in 18 errorless swings (.722).
Make It A Dozen
Creighton has won each of its last 12 home matches, tied for the fourth-longest streak in program history. A win on Friday would tie it for the second-longest home win streak in program history. The record is 15 done during the fall of 2018. Creighton's 12-match home win streak is tied for the nation's fifth-longest active streak, as well.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2015 #4 Kansas, 3-2
12 Sept. 19, 2019 - Present ? ? ?
10 Sept. 2-Dec. 1, 2017 #12 Michigan State, 3-1
Nation's Longest Active Home Win Streaks
Wins School Next Home Match
26 Baylor 2/25 vs. North Texas
16 Wisconsin 2/5 vs. Rutgers
16 Wright State 2/1 vs. Northern Kentucky
15 Georgia Tech 3/14 vs. North Carolina
12 Creighton 1/29 vs. South Dakota
12 New Mexico State 2/15 vs. Grand Canyon
11 Nebraska 1/29 vs. Northwestern
10 Coastal Carolina TBD
10 Syracuse 3/5 vs. North Carolina
10 Dixie State 2/1 vs. UTRGV
Going Back-to-Back
This weekend starts an unusual stretch where Creighton will play the same team in back-to-back matches six times in the next seven weekends.
Since restarting its program in 1994 Creighton has played 789 matches, but only once has the team played the same non-conference foe twice in a row.
That came in 2011 at the Texas A&M Invitational, when CU met the host Aggies on both August 26 and August 27 after a potential fourth team in that event dropped out.
Creighton has also played Providence on consecutive nights in each of the last four seasons in league play, winning all eight matches.
Season Opening History
Last Friday's win vs. Nebraska-Omaha improved Creighton to 17-10 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994, and 13-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton will enter Sunday's match at South Dakota with an 11-15 mark in road openers, including a 10-7 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Familiar Face
Senior Naomi Hickman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past four years, becoming the 16th player to start four season openers.
Four Opening Day Starts
Name Years
JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
Shelly Kapler 1996-99
Erin Swanson 1998-01
Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Carolyn Decker 2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda 2005-08
Jessica Houts 2006-09
Allie Oelke 2007-10
Heather Thorson 2009-12
Megan Bober 2009-12
Jess Bird 2013-16
Lauren Smith 2013-16
Jaali Winters 2015-18
Naomi Hickman 2017-20
Hello World!
All five Creighton newcomers made their Bluejay debuts last weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the case of Erica Kostelac, Grace Nelson and Mahina Pua'a).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2019 Keeley Davis 4 13 7 47 .128 0 2 2 0
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2017 Naomi Hickman• 3 5 2 8 .375 0 0 3 1
2019 Erica Kostelac• 4 5 2 15 .200 1 1 9 1
2017% Erica Kostelac 3 4 2 9 .222 0 0 1 0
2018 Jaela Zimmerman 5 1 1 6 .000 0 0 6 0
2018 Annika Welty 3 1 1 6 .000 0 0 1 0
2019 Emily Bressman• 4 1 2 6 -.167 1 0 5 0
2020 Mahina Pua'a• 3 0 0 1 .000 15 1 2 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2019 Ally VanEekeren 3 0 0 0 --- 0 1 0 0
2017# Grace Nelson• 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2018 Grace Nelson 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2020 Megan Skovsende 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2019$ Mahina Pua'a 4 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2019 Makenna Krause 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
#Nelson's stats from debut at Ball State
%Kostelac's stats from debut at Cincinnati
$Pua'a stats from debut at Arizona
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kiara Reinhardt last weekend, Creighton has started 12 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 16 such players since 2000.
Since 2000, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005), Allie Oelke (2007), Brooke Boggs (2009), Heather Thorson (2009), Julianne Mandolfo (2010), Katie Neisler (2011), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013), Jaali Winters (2015), Naomi Hickman (2017), Emily Bressman (2019) and Kiara Reinhardt (2020). In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as transfers Maggie Baumert (2014), Lydia Dimke (2016), Madelyn Cole (2018), Erica Kosetelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
Seven of those women (Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC's All-Freshman Team (the BIG EAST has no such team). Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015, Dimke was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2016 and Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019.
Production Returns
Creighton returns 10-of-14 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters.
From last year's team, only Megan Ballenger, Madlyn Cole, Megan Sharkey and Brittany Witt are not back.
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Kills 1193 (79.5%) 307 (20.5%)
Points 1437.0 (75.1%) 476.0 (24.9%)
Matches Started 124 (66.7%) 62 (33.3%)
Aces 110 (59.5%) 75 (40.5%)
Blocks 134 (58.8%) 94.0 (41.2%)
Digs 793 (47.7%) 868 (52.3%)
Assists 101 (7.2%) 1297 (92.8%)
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 five NCAA Tournaments (2015-19). 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, 2018 and 2019. That list includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Creighton is one of 13 schools with eight straight seasons of 20+ wins (2012-19). That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, 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 eight seasons (2012-19). That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford and Texas.
Creighton is one of just three schools nationally who have won 25 matches or more in each of the previous six seasons (2014-19). That group consists of BYU, Creighton and Florida.
Creighton is one of just nine programs to have spent at least one week in the AVCA Top 10 in each of the previous 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. 15 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It was the seventh time in the past eight campaigns that CU's been ranked in the preseason AVCA poll, and fifth straight season.
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 seven of the last eight campaigns.
Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the last 12 seasons, only 214-of-300 teams (71.3 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).
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 25-6 16th
2020 15th TBA TBA
Top 25 History
Creighton is 18-79 all-time against teams in the top-25 of the AVCA poll, but 13-13 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 lost its first 31 true road matches against top-25 foes, but has 'improved' to 6-38 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 114-28 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 14-18 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.
The Bluejays are also 7-32 all-time in all matches against top-10 foes (7-25 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).
Since the start of the 2012 season, 33 of Creighton's 56 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 199-23 against unranked teams. Creighton has won 61 straight home matches over unranked teams and all but two of its last 50 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Top 25 Jays
Creighton was ranked 14th in the January 26th AVCA poll. The Bluejays have now been ranked in 70 all-time polls, and every poll since Oct. 31, 2016.
Creighton has spent 21 weeks in program history in the top 10, which includes 12 consecutive weeks in 2018. CU's all-time best ranking in program history is No. 7, which came in the poll released on Aug. 28, 2017.
Creighton is one of just nine programs to have spent at least one week in the AVCA Top 10 in each of the previous four seasons, a list that consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin.
Creighton is in the top 25 of the AVCA poll for the 56th 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
560 Stanford 3
560 Nebraska 5
477 Penn State 9
450 Florida 10
254 Texas 2
109 Wisconsin 1
108 BYU 16
79 Minnesota 7
60 Kentucky 4
56 Creighton 14
Setting The Table
Creighton started a different setter in its season-opening match for the seventh time in the past nine seasons when Mahina Pua'a got the nod last Friday vs. Nebraska-Omaha.
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, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous eight seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and six of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Creighton has won seven of the nine previous season-opening matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including its season-opening win over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 373-3 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa, two match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's, and two match points on Dec. 7, 2019 in an NCAA Tournament loss at No. 7 Minnesota.
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
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 25-6 in a fall 2019 season that saw the Bluejays win a sixth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and one point away from a third trip to the Sweet 16 in the last five years.
The Bluejays had five women earn All-BIG EAST honors. Libero Brittany Witt (5.09 dps.) was named Third Team All-American and earned her second BIG EAST Libero of the Year award. Setter Madelyn Cole (11.02 aps.) was tabbed Honorable-Mention All-American and AVCA East Region Player of the Year. Megan Ballenger (2.07 kps., 0.97 bps.) controlled the middle, and outside hitters Jaela Zimmerman (3.13 kps.) and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Keeley Davis (3.35 kps.) had breakthrough seasons.
Creighton had four wins over teams ranked in the top-15 (No. 9 Marquette, No. 10 Marquette, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 15 USC) and finished 12-1 at home.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Though it has won six straight BIG EAST regular-season titles, this year marks the first time since 2017 that Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST.
Last season CU was picked second and went 17-1 in league play en route to a sixth straight regular-season title.
This spring, a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Creighton as the favorite in the Midwest Division with 3-of-5 first place votes, good for 15 points. That edged our Marquette (14 points, 2 first place votes) and also outdistanced DePaul (8), Xavier (7) and Butler (6).
The East Division was headed by St. John's (16 points, 4 first place votes) and Villanova (13, 1) and rounded out by Connecticut (8), Seton Hall (7) and Providence (6).
Creighton also had three women named to the 13 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Keeley Davis, Erica Kostelac and Jaela Zimmerman were all honored. Zimmerman was a unanimous selection.
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
2020-21 1st ??? ???
Ranked At Year's End, Again
The Creighton Volleyball team finished last season ranked 16th in the year-end American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
It was the fifth straight season that Creighton was ranked in the year-end AVCA poll, something only 10 schools (BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin) can claim.
Creighton has now been ranked in the year-end poll on six occasions. The Bluejays were No. 24 in 2012, No. 19 in 2015, No. 9 in 2016, No. 16 in 2017 and No. 13 in 2018 before the No. 16 ranking in 2019.
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 upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's reconfiguration in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013 (through 1/28/21)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (7) 114 10 186 52
Marquette (7) 100 23 174 60
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
Connecticut# 0 0 0 0
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton has gone unbeaten at home in league play in six of the previous 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 previous 14 seasons. That streak that dates back to its days at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, a site that was torn down five years ago and no longer exists.
Just A Few Streaks...
- Creighton has won 86 straight matches against unranked teams when winning set one.
- Creighton has won 61 straight home matches against unranked teams and is 107-4 in its last 111 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
- Creighton has also won 39 matches in a row against teams that enter the match with a record below .500.
- Creighton owns 12 straight home wins, three shy of the program record set from Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 310-10 (.969) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 253-4 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 180-2 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 94-0 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 won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
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 311-30 (.912) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 62-141 (.305) 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 that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 104-2 in its last 106 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.
Creighton has won 43 matches in a row when winning the first set, compared to a 5-7 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has won 86 straight matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Third Set's A Charm
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 57-30 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 20 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 in 2019.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 12-3 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena..
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 0-0 2-0
Total 72-58 466-323
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played nine matches against 2018 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 5-4 against such teams.
This year's team has five matches (four vs. Marquette, one vs. Northern Iowa) scheduled against teams that made the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 84-99 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 5-4
2020 1-0
TOTAL 87-134
TOTAL Under Booth 84-99
Marian Pipeline
This is the 18th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as sophomore Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive. Believe it or not, this year marks the first time since 2011 that there hasn't been multiple Marian grads.
Each of the last nine 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.
2020: Emily Bressman
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
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.
Creighton is one 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 is one of 13 teams to win a match in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments (2015-19). That group includes BYU, Creighton, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Purdue, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, USC, Washington and Wisconsin.
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).
Nine Is Divine
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team 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
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Climbing The List
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became Creighton Volleyball's winningest coach in the program's modern history on August 26, 2007, and hasn't let up.
Booth won her 300th match at CU on Sept. 24 vs. Villanova, and now owns 373 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history.
Coach, Sport Victories
Brent Vigness, Softball 790*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Ed Servais, Baseball 563*
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 462*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 373*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 349*
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel againste elite competition.
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 25-6
2020 2-0 0-0 2-0 so far
Up To Speed on Seeds
Though they weren't a seed in the fall of 2019, 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 seasons.
Creighton, Kentucky, UCLA, and USC have each been national seeds three times in that span.
You Dig?
They say that defense wins championships, and that's certainly proven true for Creighton.
Creighton has won 95 straight matches against BIG EAST teams when winning the dig battle, a streak that dates to Oct. 10, 2014 at Seton Hall.
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 five league foes (Connecticut, 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
Connecticut 0-0 - 0-0
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
Another 20 Win Season
Creighton went 25-6 in 2019. It was 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 is one of 13 schools with eight straight seasons (2012-19) of 20+ wins. That list features American, BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Marquette, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballMonday, June 08
Wednesday, May 27
Tuesday, May 26
Saturday, April 18
