Friday, October 8
Omaha, Neb.
6:30 PM
Creighton University
vs
DePaul
Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann
Volleyball (Finally) Returns Home To Host DePaul; Marquette
10/5/2021 9:59:00 AM | Volleyball
Both matches will be televised by Nebraska Public Media
This Weekend
Oct. 8 6:30 pm DePaul at #19 Creighton (Nebraska Public Media) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES PDF | DPU NOTES
Oct. 10 1:00 pm Marquette at #19 Creighton (Nebraska Public Media) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES PDF | MU NOTES
This Weekend
No. 19 Creighton (15-2, 3-1 BIG EAST) returns home for the first time in four weeks to take on a pair of teams in the top half of the league standings.
Creighton hosts DePaul (9-7, 2-2 BIG EAST) on Friday at 6:30 p.m., then welcomes Marquette (13-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be held at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center in Omaha, Neb.
Mask Policies
Creighton is requiring face coverings to be worn in all indoor spaces at its home athletic venues during athletic competitions during the month of October by all University guests, regardless of their vaccination status.
Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend will be televised by Nebraska Public Media, which can be found on Cox Cable in Omaha on channel 12 or 1012 (HD). Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp will call the action.
Both matches will also be video webcast for free at https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/watch/live/.
Live Stats Information
Every match this season will have free live stats. Exact links are on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting No. 19 Creighton
Creighton is 15-2 this season, including a 12-1 mark away from home, and will be playing in Omaha for just the second time in seven weekends this season. The Bluejays went 12-1 while rampaging through the non-conference schedule, winning a tournament title in each of the first four weeks of the season.
Creighton owns 12 sweeps among its 15 victories, including 3-0 victories vs. No. 3 Kentucky, Missouri, Wichita State, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas City and SMU. The Jays also beat Illinois in four sets and USC in five frames. The only losses have come to No. 3 Nebraska and St. John's.
A Creighton team that returned all six starters from last year's team that won a seventh straight BIG EAST title and made a ninth straight NCAA Tournament trip has had huge contributions from a top-10 class of newcomers.
Leading the Bluejay returnees are Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.98 kps., 3.12 dps.) and Naomi Hickman (1.64 kps., 1.18 bps., .267%), while Keeley Davis (1.30 kps., 0.41 saps.) was also an All-BIG EAST choice each of the past two seasons. The 2020 AVCA East Region Player of the Year, Zimmerman was named MVP of the Bluegrass Battle, the Bluejay Invitational and Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Outside hitter Norah Sis (3.39 kps., 2.89 dps.) became the first freshman in school history to be named All-Tournament after each of the first three events of her career. Classmate Kendra Wait (10.59 aps., 3.04 dps., 0.95 bps., 1.27 kps., .364%) was named MVP of the Mizzou Invitational and also earned three All-Tournament Team accolades. Wait (4) and Sis (1) have combined to win 5-of-6 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors to date.
A third newcomer, High Point transfer Abby Bottomley, leads CU with 5.34 digs per set and is second with 0.38 aces per set. The three-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week earned All-Tournament Team honors in Lexington and Wichita and ranks 20th in NCAA history with 2,457 career digs.
Creighton averages 14.27 kills, 1.50 aces, 18.41 digs and 2.75 blocks per set while hitting .237 as a team. The Jays are holding foes to .128 hitting and 0.82 aces per set.
Scouting DePaul
DePaul is 9-7 on the season and 2-2 in BIG EAST play. The Blue Demons are 4-1 in road matches this fall, including victories at Northwestern and Villanova.
Jill Pressly (3.58 kps., 3.12 dps.), Emma Price (2.38 kps.) and Donna Brown (2.10 kps., .299%, 0.88 bps.) top the team on offense while Rachel Krasowski (5.19 dps.) owns the club lead in digs.
Ashley Cudiamat (5.88 aps.), Molly Murrihy (4.76 aps.) and Phoenix Lee (4.28 aps.) all have taken turns directing the offense.
DePaul averages 13.76 kills, 0.86 aces, 17.14 digs and 2.17 blocks per set on .205 hitting.
Scouting Marquette
Marquette is 13-2 overall and alone in first place in the BIG EAST Conference with a 4-0 league mark. The Golden Eagles are 5-0 in true road matches, as both of its losses came it home to Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Taylor Wolf (2.90 kps., 5.25 aps., 2.27 dps., 0.39 saps.) is a triple-double threat every time she takes the floor and leads MU in kills. Fellow All-BIG EAST performers Savannah Rennie (2.67 kps., 1.29 bps.) and Hope Werch (2.80 kps., 0.36 saps.) are also threats to deal with. Carly Skrabak (2.78 dps.) leads MU in digs and Claire Mosher leads MU with 5.51 assists per set.
As a team, Marquette averages 13.86 kills, 1.61 aces, 14.37 digs and 2.58 blocks per set while hitting a league-high .272.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 398-177 record in her 19th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to seven straight outright BIG EAST titles, and eight league crowns in the previous nine 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 10 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 10 seasons (including 2021), 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. DePaul
Creighton has won 16 of 17 previous meetings with DePaul, and is 16-0 since the two schools became BIG EAST rivals.
DePaul swept the first meeting in 2001 in DeKalb, Ill., before Creighton's recent run, which has included two five-set wins (in Omaha in 2015 and spring 2021), six different four-set wins and eight sweeps.
Creighton has swept seven of the last nine meetings, and enters Friday having won 29 of its past 32 sets played against the Blue Demons.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 16-0 against DePaul and 6-0 versus Marie Zidek.
Series History vs. Marquette
Creighton is 20-5 all-time against Marquette, and are 16-2 since the start of the 2014 season against MU. CU is 11-3 in Omaha against the Golden Eagles, and 8-1 in league play. Creighton has won all five match-ups to go five sets all-time.
Creighton went 2-1 against the Golden Eagles last season, with all three meetings being played in Omaha, including a 3-1 victory in the BIG EAST Tournament title match.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 20-5 against Marquette and 16-2 against Ryan Theis.
Recapping Last Weekend
Creighton went 1-1 last weekend, losing in four sets at St. John's before sweeping Seton Hall 23 hours later.
Norah Sis (26) and Jaela Zimmerman (25) combined for 51 kills and Keeley Davis served up a team-best six aces.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its ninth season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 72-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (65-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 56-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 50-1 league mark and a 6-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2017, Bluejay senior Naomi Hickman is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-126 sets played.
Hall of Fame Weekend
Kelli Browning will become the third volleyball player ever to join the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame when she's inducted on Saturday alongside Mike Tranchilla (men's soccer) and Pat Venditte (baseball).
A Milwaukee-area native, Browning starred at Creighton from 2011-14, where she was a part of Creighton's first two teams to ever win regular-season and conference tournament titles. She led the nation in blocks as a sophomore with 204, and owns Bluejay career records with 602 total blocks and 1.42 blocks per set. She also accumulated 1,104 kills, 44 aces and 165 digs while becoming the first three-time All-American in program history.
Creighton Volleyball's first two Hall of Famers were Melissa Walsh and Korie Lebeda.
Triple Double-Doubles For Ally
Creighton setter Ally Van Eekeren has been used in a reserve role to date this season, but she playing a starring role in the spring vs. Marquette.
Creighton and Marquette played three times last season, and Van Eekeren delivered a double-double in all three contests.
She had 20 assists and 13 digs in CU's 3-2 win on Feb. 5, followed with 17 assists and 10 digs one night later in a 3-0 loss, and turned in 28 assists and 11 digs on April 3rd in the BIG EAST Tournament title tilt.
Van Eekeren owns four double-doubles in 53 career matches played, with three of those coming in the aforementioned matches vs. MU.
The only other Bluejays with three double-doubles against the same BIG EAST team in the same season have been Jaali Winters vs. both Villanova and Marquette in 2018, Maggie Baumert vs. Villanova in 2015 and Michelle Sicner vs. Xavier in 2014.
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 63-6 in October and 62-7 in the month of November.
Narrowing that to the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is a combined 96-8 in the months of October (50-4) and November (46-4).
Creighton has won 31 straight home matches played in the month of October, a streak that could turn 10 years old next week, since losing to No. 12 Northern Iowa on Oct. 15, 2011.
Booth Chases 400th Win at CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth enters this weekend with a 398-178 record on the Creighton sideline, and can reach the 400-win mark with victories over both DePaul and Marquette.
Booth has beaten 91 different schools while at Creighton.
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
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, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013 (through 10/5/21)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (8) 124 12 211 58
Marquette (7) 108 25 196 65
Xavier 81 53 126 116
Butler 73 63 132 114
Villanova (1) 71 65 139 107
St. John's (1) 67 69 150 112
Seton Hall (1) 61 72 121 130
Georgetown 30 98 80 149
DePaul 30 106 90 147
Providence* 19 101 78 138
Connecticut# 7 5 15 12
*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.
Hickman For The Block
Naomi Hickman has been a force at the net throughout her career, but her game seems to step up a notch when she's playing against Marquette.
In 38 career sets vs. Marquette, Hickman owns an astounding 59 blocks. That's good for a 1.55 blocks per set average, and it's coming against what has traditionally been one of the nation's best offenses.
Hickman owns four career matches with 10 or more blocks, with three of those coming against Marquette. She's the only player in Creighton history to produce three matches of 10+ blocks against the same opponent.
Most Blocks In A Match - Naomi Hickman
Blocks Opponent, BA-BS, Sets Date
11 Hickman at #10 Marquette (1-10 in 5s) 10-12-19
11 Hickman vs. #25 Marquette (0-11 in 5s) 02-05-21
10 Hickman vs. #9 Marquette (0-10 in 4s) 11-22-19
10 Hickman vs. DePaul (1-9 in 4s) 11-24-19
Matches With 10+ Blocks, Career
10+ Blocks Name Years
9 Kelli Browning 2011-14
5 Laurel Sanford 2008-11
4 Ashley Williams 2001-04
4 Jessica Houts 2006-09
4 Lauren Smith 2013-16
4 Naomi Hickman 2017-Present
3 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
You Can Count On Her
As a junior Naomi Hickman averaged 1.97 kills and 1.09 blocks per set while hitting .394 in eight matches against top-25 competition.
Last season, Hickman averaged 1.83 kills and 1.67 blocks per set while hitting .463 in regular-season matches against top-50 competition. She was also named MVP of the BIG EAST Championship while helping CU to the title.
When Hickman excels, it usually leads to good things for her team. The Bluejays are 31-4 in her career when she has seven or more kills,
31 Flavors For Davis
Keeley Davis entered Creighton's match at No. 10 Marquette on Oct. 12, 2019 with a season-best of 14 kills, only to go off for 31 kills in the 3-2 win over the Golden Eagles in her first career match inside Al McGuire Center.
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
Bottoms Up
Abby Bottomley compiled an incredible 2,158 digs in four seasons at High Point University. Those 2,158 digs at High Point are more than Brittany Witt's Creighton record (2,079), and helped her lead the Big South Conference in digs each of the previous four seasons.
Bottomley ranks 20th all-time in NCAA history with her 2,457 career digs, trailing only Valparaiso's Rylee Cookerly's 2,833 among active players.
Rk Player, Team Years Digs
1. Lara Newberry, Chatanooga 2005-08 3,176
2. Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso 2017-Pr. 2,833
3. Paula Gentil, Minnesota 2002-05 2,791
4. Kim Diehlmann,Hartford 1989-92 2,780
5. Courtney Pence, Illinois St. 2015-18 2,778
6. Taylor Root, Valparaiso 2009-12 2,752
7. Keellie Arneson, Clemson 2012-15 2,707
8. Raquel Miotto, UNC Asheville 2006-09 2,694
9. Allison Nieters, Iona 2007-10 2,682
10. Ellie Blankenship, UNI 2007-10 2,656
11. Kasey Elswick, UT Martin 2009-12 2,606
12. Stephanie Figgers, SFA 2003-06 2,598
13. Caitlin Strimel, Western Mich. 2006-09 2,583
14. Lena Oliver, Western Mich. 2010-13 2,544
15. Ali McCurdy, Duke 2010-13 2,538
16. Dena Ott, Eastern Kentucky 2011-14 2,518
17. Taylor Horsfall, Tulsa 2016-19 2,489
18. Emily Butters, Missouri St. 2015-18 2,482
19. Marie Dobrenz, Charleston 2003-06 2,475
20. Abby Bottomley, HPU/CU 2017-Pr. 2,457
21. Michelle Walroth, Jacksonville 2006-09 2,456
Defense Wins Championships
Creighton's defense has risen to the occasion time-and-time again this season. The Bluejays have limited opponents to .128 hitting and just 10.95 kills per set. The marks would be the lowest and second-lowest figures ever, respectfully, by a Bluejay opponent over the course of a season.
Creighton has allowed just two opponents (USC, .247; St. John's, .231) to hit .200 or better this season and held eight foes under .100.
Creighton ranks ninth nationally in opponents hitting percentage, seventh nationally in digs per set and 14th nationally in blocks per set. Creighton is the only school ranked in the top 15 of all three categories.
Spearheading the defense from the back row is Abby Bottomley, who ranks 13th in the country with 5.34 digs per set.
Add it all up and that defense is a major reason that Creighton ranks tied for third nationally with 15 victories this fall.
Zimmerman Is One to Watch
Jaela Zimmerman has started her senior season with a bang, winning three Tournament MVP honors and a pair of BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolades.
Here's how her numbers compare to some of the other recent BIG EAST Players of the Year.
Name, Year KPS HIT% SAPS DPS BPS
Barber, '17 4.71 .328 0.09 0.75 0.48
Winters, '18 3.82 .245 0.21 3.06 0.42
Barber, '19 4.66 .307 0.07 0.52 0.34
Alexakou, '20 4.19 .210 0.11 2.74 0.45
Zimmerman, '21 3.98 .225 0.27 3.12 0.46
Bottomley & Wait Triple Up
For the third week in a row Creighton Volleyball's Abby Bottomley and Kendra Wait were honored by the BIG EAST Conference on Sept. 27. Bottomley was named Defensive Player of the Week and Wait recognized as Freshman of the Week.
Bottomley averaged a league-best 7.71 digs in addition to 1.43 assists and 0.57 aces per set as Creighton opened BIG EAST play with road wins at Butler (3-1) and Xavier (3-0). The Virginia Beach, Va., product had a season-high 31 digs in Friday's 3-1 victory at Butler, adding eight assists and three service aces. She wrapped up her weekend with 23 digs, two assists and an ace in a 3-0 sweep vs. Xavier. That gave her 2,437 career digs, good for a tie for 24th in NCAA history. Creighton held the Bulldogs and Musketeers to combined .112 hitting and seven aces in seven sets played.
It was Bottomley's third honor this fall after she earned 14 Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week recognitions while at High Point from 2017-20. She's the first Bluejay ever to win Defensive Player of the Week honors three straight weeks.
Wait excelled in the first BIG EAST weekend of her career, averaging 11.00 assists, 3.86 digs, 1.57 kills, 0.86 blocks and 0.29 aces per set on .550 hitting.
Wait started her week with 47 assists and a season-high 18 digs in CU's 3-1 win at Butler. Wait added four blocks and four kills in addition to her first career ace. After Butler snapped Creighton's 15-set win streak, Wait had 16 assists, four digs and two kills while setting the Jays to .425 hitting in the decisive fourth frame. She followed that with 30 assists, nine digs and seven kills on .700 hitting in a 3-0 win at Xavier, which also included two blocks and an ace. Wait had kills to end both the second and third sets.
This was the fourth BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honor for Wait in the first five weeks of the season. Teammate Norah Sis won the other one. Wait joined Jaali Winters and Keeley Davis as the only Bluejays to win three straight league Freshman of the Week honors.
League Opener Histories
Creighton owns a 20-8 record all-time in conference openers, including a 17-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes an 8-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, and eight straight wins.
Each of the previous eight times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 126-8 in regular-season league action. Creighton also won seven of the last eight conference tournament titles during those years, going 14-1 in those seasons.
In the 19 previous seasons that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owns a combined .760 (257-81) winning percentage (entering 2021) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Jays have had a losing record five times and it owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In league road openers, Creighton is now 19-9 overall and 16-3 under Booth, with eight straight wins.
In conference home openers Creighton is 22-5 overall and 16-2 under Booth, with 10 straight wins, heading into its Oct. 8 match vs. DePaul.
Long Live September
Creighton won 11 matches in September, its most successful month ever.
Most Wins, Month
W-L Month, Year
11-1 September, 2021
10-1 October 2015
10-3 September 2006
9-0 November, 2012
9-0 October, 2016
9-0 November, 2018
9-1 September, 2019
9-2 September, 2018
9-3 September, 2012
9-4 September, 2004
One And Only
Freshman setter Kendra Wait ranks 30th in the nation in assists per set and 268th in the country in blocks per set.
She's the ONLY player in the country averaging at least 10.50 assists and 0.95 blocks per set.
Wait is one of three freshmen starting setters for a top-25 team, joining Kami Miner (Stanford) and Emma Grome (Kentucky).
Teen Spirit
Creighton is off to a 15-2 start this season. Those 15 victories surpass the win total from all of last season's abbreviated campaign, when the Bluejays finished 12-4 overall. Creighton's 15 wins rank tied for third-most nationally this season, trailing only Delaware State (16-1) and Towson (16-2).
This is the first time that Creighton has started 15-2 or better.
Prior to last season, Creighton, BYU and Florida were the nation's only programs with 25 or more wins in every season from 2014-19.
7 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2020 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win seven straight outright regular-season titles.
No team had won seven 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 seven or more consecutive league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won eight conference regular-season titles. All eight of Creighton's crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared four.
Creighton has also won seven conference tournament titles since 2012, tied for the most in the nation with Dayton and Western Kentucky.
Most Conference Titles Since 2012
Regular-Season League Tournament
8 (0 shared) Creighton 7 Creighton
8 (1) Texas 7 Dayton
8 (4) Western Kentucky 7 Western Kentucky
7 American 6 American
7 BYU 6 Fairfield
7 Colorado State 6 LIU
7 Fairfield
7 Florida A&M
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 137 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 25 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 (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 16-1 - 16-1
Connecticut 0-0 1-0 1-0
DePaul 16-0 - 16-0
Georgetown 14-0 - 14-0
Marquette 13-3 4-1 17-4
Providence 12-0 - 12-0
Seton Hall 12-3 2-0 14-3
St. John's 13-2 0-1 13-3
Villanova 11-3 3-0 14-3
Xavier 17-0 3-0 20-0
Total 124-12 13-2 137-14
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Last season CU was picked to win the Midwest Division and went 7-1 in league play en route to a seventh straight regular-season title.
This spring, a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Creighton as the favorite with 8-of-11 first place votes and 97 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 93 points and the other three votes for first place.
St. John's (83) was picked third, just ahead of Xavier (68) and Villanova (56). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were UConn (48), DePaul (48), Providence (44), Butler (31), Seton Hall (27) and Georgetown (10).
Creighton also had two women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Naomi Hickman and unanimous selection Jaela Zimmerman.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 16 of 18 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 1st (MW) 1st (MW) - -
2021 1st ??? ???
Best Starts Ever
Creighton started this season 6-0 for the first time ever, eclipsing the start by the 2006 team that opened 5-0. Of Creighton's six teams to start 4-0 or better, the first loss for five of those teams came during a home contest and on four occasions, it came against a ranked foe.
Creighton's 15-2 mark to start this year is also the program's best mark with just two losses ever.
Most Wins Before First Loss, CU History
Wins Season Lost to
6 2021 #3 Nebraska
5 2006 Iowa
4 2000 at #6 Hawai'i
4 2012 #21 Kansas State
4 2013 California
4 2017 #18 USC
Most Wins With 1 Loss To Start A Season
Start Season Lost to
14-1 2021 #3 Nebraska
10-1 2006 Iowa
10-1 2012 #21 Kansas State
8-1 2004 Northern Colorado
Lucky Number 4
Creighton won a tournament title each of the first four weekends of the fall, setting a school record.
Previously, only the 2017 team had won three straight events when that club won the Husky Invitational, Bluejay Invitational and Kansas Invitational to open the year.
That being said, the 2017 team lost matches at both the Bluejay Invitational as well as the Kansas Invitational, only to win both events via tiebreaker. This year's team went 3-0 in all three events, winning 36-of-39 sets played.
Zimmerman Playing At An MVP Level
Jaela Zimmerman was named Most Valuable Player at the Bluegrass Battle, the Bluejay Invitational and the Shocker Volleyball Classic over the last three weekends of non-conference play.
It gives her four career MVP honors, having also won the 2019 Creighton Classic MVP accolade in an event that featured Wyoming and Wichita State.
Zimmerman became Creighton's first player to be named MVP of a tournament on back-to-back weekends in Kirsten Bernthal Booth's 19 years at Creighton, and then did it three weeks in a row.
Creighton's only other player under Booth with multiple MVP honors in non-conference play of the same season had been Korie Lebeda in 2006, who took home MVP honors in the 12th Annual Holiday Inn Classic to start the season as well as the Blue Raider Bash in the third week of the fall.
Diaper Dandies
Creighton freshmen Kendra Wait and Norah Sis were both named to the Mizzou Invitational All-Tournament Teams, with Wait bringing home MVP honors after averaging 10.22 assists, 3.56 digs, 1.33 kills and 1.11 blocks per set on .440 hitting.
Wait is the first freshman in CU history to be named MVP of an event to start the season.
Wait and Sis were just the second and third true freshmen in Creighton history to be named All-Tournament following their first event, joining JoDe Cieloha in 1994 at the Tulane Invitational.
One week later, Sis was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the Bluegrass Battle, becoming the first freshman in program history to be All-Tourney after each of her first two events.
Sis is the first Bluejay (of any class) to be named to an All-Tourney Team in each of CU's first three tournaments of a season since Lydia Dimke in 2017. That streak was snapped in week four at the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Creighton's last player to be named to an All-Tournament Team in four straight weeks was Lauren Smith in the fall of 2015.
Both Sis and Wait were also named to the Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team in CU's third week of the year.
In week four, Wait garnered her third All-Tournament Team accolade at the Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Hickman Joins Century Club
Naomi Hickman has played in 103 wins as a Bluejay, and the Sept. 18 win vs. Wichita State made her the ninth player in Creighton Volleyball's modern history to reach the century mark.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
109 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
109 Brittany Witt 2016-19
107 Megan Ballenger 2016-19
106 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
104 Lauren Smith 2013-16
103 Naomi Hickman 2017-Present
102 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
101 Ashley Jansen 2012-15
Top 25 History
Creighton is 129-33 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 15-20 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, 35 of Creighton's 62 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 222-27 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but one of its past 72 home matches over unranked teams and all but six of its last 77 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
After a total of three total top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last seven seasons (2015-21). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Creighton is ranked No. 19 in this week's AVCA poll.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 15-20)
Home: 5-7 Away: 5-7 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
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
Double-Double x 4
Creighton had four women finish with a double-double in its Sept. 11 win vs. Illinois as Norah Sis (20 kills, 11 digs), Keeley Davis (12 kills, 13 digs), Jaela Zimmerman (21 kills, 13 digs) and Kendra Wait (46 assists, 15 digs) all had double-doubles.
It marked the first time since Feb. 5, 2021 that Creighton had four players with a double-double in the same match. Back then, it was Ally Van Eekeren, Keeley Davis, Jaela Zimmerman and Mahina Pua'a with double-dips vs. No. 25 Marquette.
Prior to Feb. 5, it hadn't happened since Nov. 20, 2015, when Jaali Winters, Samantha Bohnet, Jess Bird and Lauren Smith did it at Georgetown.
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
Creighton hosted 11,279 fans on Sept. 8 for its match vs. No. 3 Nebraska at CHI Health Center Omaha.
In addition to being the largest crowd in the nation this season, it was the fourth-biggest home crowd in Creighton history and the 10th-largest volleyball-only regular-season crowd in NCAA history.
In six all-time volleyball matches at CHI Health Center Omaha, Creighton has played before an average of 11,444 fans. That includes 14,022 fans in 2018 for a match vs. Nebraska, a figure that remains the largest regular-season volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history.
Creighton has also hosted the second-largest NCAA Soccer crowd of 2021, having welcomed 6,577 fans to Morrison Stadium on Sept. 18 for a men's soccer game vs. Georgetown.
Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history:
Largest Home Crowds
Att. Opponent Date CU W-L Facility
14,022 #6 Nebraska 09/06/18 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CHI Health Ctr.
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
2,578 #13 Kentucky 09/01/17 W 3-0 Sokol Arena
2,552 South Dakota 11/30/18 W 3-0 Sokol Arena
2,517 Coastal Carolina 12/01/17 W 3-1 Sokol Arena
2,514 #7 Nebraska 08/31/10 L 0-3 Sokol Arena
Largest Crowds (All Sites)
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
14,022 #6 Nebraska 09/06/18 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CHI Health Ctr.
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
8,627 at #5 Nebraska 09/29/02 L 0-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,450 at #2 Nebraska 08/30/19 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,277 vs. Montana St. 09/16/16 W 3-0 Devaney Ctr.
8,249 at #1 Nebraska 09/17/16 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,237 vs. #20 Baylor (@NU) 08/31/19 L 0-3 Devaney Ctr.
Historically Speaking
Here's a look at the top volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Of note, each of the 12 figures of 11,000 or more have been in the state of Nebraska.
Largest Regular-Season NCAA VB-Only Crowds In History
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
14,022 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/6/18 Omaha, NE
13,870 UCLA def. Nebraska, 3-2 9/13/09 Lincoln, NE
13,412 Nebraska def. LSU, 3-0 9/12/08 Lincoln, NE
13,396 Nebraska def. Hawai'i, 3-0 10/21/07 Lincoln, NE
13,081 Cal Poly def. Creighton, 3-0 9/2/07 Omaha, NE
Nebraska def. Penn State, 3-0
12,504 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 11/4/00 Lincoln, NE
12,112 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-1 9/24/06 Omaha, NE
11,892 Dayton def. W. Michigan, 3-0 9/11/10 Lincoln, NE
Nebraska def. Illinois, 3-2
11,529 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 10/22/95 Lincoln, NE
11,279 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-0 9/8/21 Omaha, NE
11,076 Nebraska def. UCLA, 3-1 8/25/07 Omaha, NE
Tennessee def. Utah, 3-2
11,032 UCLA def. Nebraska, 3-1 9/14/91 Lincoln, NE
10,927 Minnesota def. Illinois, 3-1 10/16/04 Minneapolis, MN
10,645 Purdue def. W. Michigan, 3-1 10/29/85 W. Lafayette, IN
10,576 Penn St. def. Hawai'i, 3-0 8/27/05 Omaha, NE
Nebraska def. Stanford, 3-0
10,570 Purdue def. Wisconsin, 3-2 10/17/08 W. Lafayette, IN
Hometown Flavor
Creighton's 2021 roster boasts five players from the state of Nebraska, including Omaha-area products Emily Bressman, Norah Sis and Megan Skovsende. Grand Island native Katie Maser and Lincoln's Jaela Zimmerman round out the in-state natives.
Dear Abby
High Point transfer Abby Bottomley transferred to Creighton this fall and had 10 or more digs in each of her first 16 matches to start this season. She's just the fifth Bluejay ever to start a year that way, and the third to start her Bluejay career in that fashion.
Bottomley needed just seven matches to surpass 100 digs with the Bluejays, third-fastest in program history. She surpassed 200 digs with the Jays in her 12th match, second-fastest in program history. Bottomley enters Friday with 299 digs in her first 17 matches at CU.
Consec. Matches, 10 or More Digs, To Start Season
32# Kate Elman 2012
29 Janeen Piller (every match) 2004
27# Bianca Rivera 2007
18 Brittany Witt 2018
16# Abby Bottomley 2021
9 Nayka Benitez 2010
#streak during first season at CU
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
32 Kate Elman, Aug. 24 - Nov. 30, 2012
30 Kate Elman, Sept. 30, 2013 - Sept. 12, 2014
27 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
23 Julianne Mandolfo, Sept. 9-Nov. 24, 2011
21 Brittany Witt, Nov. 25, 2017 - Oct. 7, 2018
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
18 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Aug. 28, 2010
16 Abby Bottomley, Aug. 27-Oct. 1, 2021
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
15 Nayka Benitez, Nov. 13, 2009-Sept. 10, 2010
15 Allie Oelke, Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2010
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 6 09/02/07 Cal Poly
Brittany Witt 6 09/08/16 #4 Kansas
Abby Bottomley 7 09/08/21 #3 Nebraska
Nayka Benitez 8 09/12/09 Connecticut
Ellie Bolton 8 03/06/21 DePaul
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Abby Bottomley 12 09/18/21 vs. South Dakota
Nayka Benitez 13 09/25/09 at Indiana State
Kate Elman 13 09/22/13 Drake
Brittany Witt 13 09/23/16 Marquette
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 15 09/28/07 Illinois State
Kate Elman 17 10/05/12 Northern Iowa
Nayka Benitez 18 10/16/09 at Evansville
Julianne Mandolfo 19 10/16/10 at Drake
Brittany Witt 20 10/16/16 Seton Hall
Sis-ter Act
Freshman Norah Sis had 20 kills in the fourth match of her career, a 3-2 win vs. USC on Sept. 3rd, and then added 20 more vs. Illinois on Sept. 11th in her ninth match.
She's just the second freshman in program history to have a match with 20 or more kills in one of her first 10 matches, joining Carolyn Decker in 2004. Decker did it in her second match. Sis is the first Bluejay to ever have multiple contests of 20+ kills in her first 10 matches.
Sis is the 11th Bluejay freshman ever to have a match with 20 or more kills, and first since Keeley Davis in 2019.
Creighton Freshmen With 20+ Kills in a Match
Times Name (High) MP Before 1st Time Year
9 Jaali Winters (28) 13 2015
4 Melissa Walsh (30) 15 1998
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 12 1994
2 Norah Sis (20) 4 2021
1 Michelle Prorock (23) 21 1994
1 Shelly Kapler (22) 16 1996
1 Jodi Bjoin (21) 18 1999
1 Kelly Goc (20) 11 2004
1 Carolyn Decker (22) 2 2004
1 Allie Oelke (23) 14 2007
1 Keeley Davis (31) 16 2019
Speaking of Sis
While we're on the topic of Norah Sis, the freshman surpassed 100 career kills in her ninth match of the season vs. Illinois.
That matches Jaali Winters for second-fastest in program history to that milestone, trailing only JoDe Cieloha (8 in 1994).
Sis owns 190 kills in her first 17 matches heading into Friday.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
JoDe Cieloha 8 09/23/94 at Drake
Jaali Winters 9 09/12/15 Pacific
Norah Sis 9 09/11/21 Illinois
Melissa Walsh 10 09/26/98 at Bradley
Carolyn Decker 10 09/18/04 Illinois State
Keeley Davis 10 09/21/19 Wyoming
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 15 09/27/15 Villanova
Melissa Walsh 16 10/16/98 at Indiana State
JoDe Cieloha 18 10/30/94 at UMKC
Allie Oelke 18 10/06/07 at So. Illinois
Keeley Davis 18 10/20/19 Xavier
Against The Champs
Creighton improved to 1-5 all-time against defending national champions with a 3-0 win at No. 3 Kentucky on Sept. 4, 2021.
CU was swept by Nebraska (2001 and 2005) and Stanford (2005), lost in four sets to Nebraska (2016) and in five sets to Nebraska (2018) prior to this year's victory in Lexington.
Creighton also improved to 2-10 all-time against teams the season after a Final Four appearance, and 2-6 on the road. Prior to UK, the lone victory came on Dec. 2, 2016, when CU outlasted Kansas to clinch the program's second Sweet 16 trip in program history.
CU vs. Previous Year Final Four Teams
Date Result Previous Year Finish
09/25/01 Nebraska 3, CU 0 NCAA Champion
09/10/05 Stanford 3, CU 0 NCAA Champion
09/24/06 Nebraska 3, CU 1 NCAA Runner-Up
08/31/07 Nebraska 3, CU 0 NCAA Champion
09/01/09 Nebraska 3, CU 0 Final Four
09/17/15 Nebraska 3, CU 1 NCAA Champion
09/08/16 Kansas 3, CU 2 Final Four
12/02/16 CU 3, Kansas 2 Final Four
12/10/16 Texas 3, CU 0 NCAA Runner-Up
09/06/18 Nebraska 3, CU 2 NCAA Champion
08/30/19 Nebraska 3, CU 1 NCAA Runner-Up
09.04/21 CU 3, Kentucky 1 NCAA Champion
Booth Earns 500th Career Win
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth picked up her 500th career victory on Sept. 4 when Creighton defeated No. 3 Kentucky.
It came in the fifth match of her 22nd season, and improved her to 500-216 as a head coach and 388-175 in 19 years at Creighton.
Booth's 398 Division I wins rank 55th-most among active coaches, but are second-most among coaches who have spent 19 years or less at the Division I level, and one behind Purdue's Dave Shondell.
More Tidbits From Kentucky
A few additional leftover notes from the win over Kentucky that will impress your friends and neighbors, but don't fit in elsewhere in these notes.
- Since the start of 2015, Kentucky is 157-38, but just 1-5 against Creighton. No other program has beaten the Wildcats more than three times.
- Kentucky First Team All-American Alli Stumler's six kills vs. Creighton were her least in a match since she had five on Nov. 8, 2019 at Georgia, which was 39 matches ago.
- Creighton's 3-0 win snapped a streak of 59 matches in a row for UK without being swept .
- Creighton's 3-0 win also snapped Kentucky's nation-leading win streak of 12 matches and was Kentucky's first loss at home in 18 straight matches.
- Creighton's 3-0 win was the first home sweep for Kentucky since Nov. 1, 2017 vs. Florida (49 matches).
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kendra Wait and Norah Sis on Aug. 27 vs. Kansas City, Creighton has started 14 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 18 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), Kiara Reinhardt (2020), Kendra Wait (2021) and Norah Sis (2021), with Coleman, Lebeda and Wait the only freshmen to start at setter in the season-opener.
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.
Eight of those women (Reinhardt, Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC or BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team (though the BIG EAST had no such team from 2013-19). 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.
This year marked the first time that Creighton started multiple true freshmen in a season-opener since 2012, when Ashley Jansen and Melanie Jereb both earning a starting nod.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Eve Magill, Abbey Milner, Norah Sis and Kendra Wait was recognized as the nation's No. 5 class last fall by PrepVolleyball.
Wait was tabbed the nation's No. 7 freshman recruit, making her the program's most-decorated recruit since 2004. Sis, at No. 28, is the program's third-highest recruit (behind Wait and No. 18 in 2015's Taryn Kloth), with No. 31 Eve Magill not far behind.
In the summer, Volleyball Magazine recognized CU's group of newcomers (which included the four freshmen and Abby Bottomley) as the No. 8 incoming class in the nation.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004)
Rank Year Player
68 2004 Carolyn Decker
55 2008 Laurel Sanford
60 2011 Michelle Sicner
73 2013 Jess Bird
50 2014 Lydia Dimke*
18 2015 Taryn Kloth
41 2015 Jaali Winters
77 2016 Erica Kostelac#
98 2017 Naomi Hickman
99 2017 Steph Gaston
49 2018 Jaela Zimmerman
42 2018 Keeley Davis
46 2020 Kiara Reinhardt
97 2020 Ellie Bolton
7 2021 Kendra Wait
28 2021 Norah Sis
31 2021 Eve Magill
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton
PrepVolleyball.com Recruiting Rankings
(list started in 2004)
Year Rank Freshman Recruits
2004 Best of the Rest (Baumann, Decker, Goc, Lahm, Mehal)
2005 Honorable-Mention (Cvejdlik, Houts, Lebeda)
2006 None (Bloemke, Schulze, Workman)
2007 None (Feldman, Oelke, Vrbicky)
2008 Highest Honorable-Mention (Almgren, Bober, Sanford)
2009 Highest HM Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010 High HM (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011 Highest HM (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner, Stivers)
2012 High Honorable-Mention (Elman, Jansen, Jereb, L. Smith)
2013 None (Bird, Crawford, Foje)
2014 Highest Honorable-Mention (Lawrence, Tupper, Wilkinson)
2015 11th (Ballenger, Bohnet, Kloth, O'Connell, Winters)
2016 High Honorable-Mention (Conlon, Taylor, Witt)
2017 25th (Gaston, Hickman, Roumeliotis)
2018 10th (Davis, Welty, Zimmerman, Zumach)
2019 Highest HM (Bressman, Krause, Schmitt, Van Eekeren)
2020 27th (Bolton, Maser, Reinhardt, Skovsende)
2021 5th (Magill, Milner, Sis, Wait)
Familiar Face
Senior Naomi Hickman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past five years. She's the 16th player to start four season openers, but the only one to do so five times.
Four or More 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 2017-21
Non-Conference Comes to a Close
Armed with a 12-1 mark, Creighton finished non-conference play with a record of .500 or better for the seventh straight year, no small feat considering the degree of difficulty that head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth regularly challenges her team with prior to league play.
This season also clinched a 12th straight campaign of five or more non-league victories.
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-15 letterwinners to the court from last season, including all six starters, as well as returning libero Ellie Bolton.
From last year's team, only Grace Nelson, Mahina Pua'a, Erica Kostelac and Makenna Krause are not back.
Creighton returns 98.4 percent of its blocks, its most since 2007 (99.3).
Creighton returns 94.3 percent of its kills, most since 2016 (94.7).
Creighton returns 93.7 percent of its points, most since 2014 (99.1).
Creighton returns 86.5 percent of its starts, most since 2014 (98.1).
Creighton returns 81.7 percent of its digs, most since 2017 (95.0).
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 595.5 of a possible 700% back (85.1 percent), which would be its highest since 2014 (99.1).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Blocks 153 (98.4%) 2.5 (1.6%)
Kills 763 (94.3%) 46 (5.7%)
Points 987.0 (93.7%) 66.5 (6.3%)
Matches Started 83 (86.5%) 13 (13.5%)
Digs 734 (81.7%) 164 (18.3%)
Aces 71 (79.8%) 18 (20.2%)
Assists 462 (61.5%) 289 (38.5%)
Nine Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last nine seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments (2012-20). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eight different Bluejay to earn that role in the past 10 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, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019. Last season Mahina Pua'a earned the nod on opening night, while Wait started this season.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous nine seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and eight of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Creighton won eight of those 10 season-opening matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 398-3 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
Third Set's A Charm
Since an Oct. 10, 2014 loss at Seton Hall, Creighton is a perfect 103-0 against BIG EAST teams (93-0 in the regular-season and 10-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-32 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-0 mark this season 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 16 of its last 21 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, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 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 4-2 12-4
2021 1-0 15-2
Total 77-60 491-329
Block Around The Clock
Naomi Hickman is in the top-10 of every one of Creighton's career blocking records. She is currently fourth with 394 block assists, sixth with 425 total blocks and ninth with 1.00 blocks per set.
Career Records
Block Assists
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kelli Browning 424 547 2011-14
2. Jessica Houts 451 536 2005-09
3. Lauren Smith 511 499 2013-16
4. Naomi Hickman 426 394 2017-Pr.
5. Megan Bober 480 380 2009-12
Total Blocks
Name Sets BS BA Tot. Years
1. Jessica Houts 451 73 536 609 2005-09
2. Kelli Browning 424 55 547 602 2011-14
3. Lauren Smith 511 61 499 560 2013-16
4. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04
5. JoDe Cieloha 398 106 331 437 1994-97
6. Naomi Hickman 426 31 394 425 2017-Pr.
7. Megan Bober 480 42 380 422 2009-12
Blocks Per Set (Min. 80 Blocks)
Name Sets No. Avg. Years
1. Kelli Browning 424 602 1.42 2011-14
2. Jessica Houts 451 609 1.35 2005-09
3. Ashley Williams 359 447 1.25 2001-04
4. Taffy Smart 73 88 1.21 1998
5. Laurel Sanford 369 419 1.14 2008-11
6. JoDe Cieloha 398 437 1.098 1994-97
7. Lauren Smith 511 560 1.096 2013-16
8. Sarah Beulke 299 307 1.03 2001-04
9. Naomi Hickman 426 425 1.00 2017-Pr.
10. Megan Waldren 87 81 0.93 1994
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played four matches against 2019 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 3-1 against such teams.
This year's team owned four matches (Missouri, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota) scheduled against teams that made the 2020 NCAA Tournament, and they went 3-1 vs. that gauntlet.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 89-101 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 3-1
2021 3-1
TOTAL 92-136
TOTAL Under Booth 89-101
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 330-11 (.968) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 273-5 mark (.982) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 199-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 100-1 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 15-201 (.069) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 15 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
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 334-32 (.913) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-145 (.306) 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 113-3 in its last 116 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific, on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska and on Jan. 29, 2021 to South Dakota.
Creighton has gone 66-2 in its last 68 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-11 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 108-2 in its last 110 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Marian Pipeline
This is the 19th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as junior Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive.
Last season was the first time since 2010 that Creighton's year-end leader in digs wasn't 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.
2021: Emily Bressman
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
Perfect Ten
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 10 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 10 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 10
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 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 owns 398 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history.
Coach, Sport Victories (as of 10/7/21)
Brent Vigness, Softball 804*
Ed Servais, Baseball 587*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 478*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 398*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 356*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
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 against elite competition.
Creighton is 7-10 against ranked non-conference foes over the last four seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Creighton owned 12 non-conference wins this season to set a program record for a regular-season. It's actually also the first season with 10 wins prior to league play.
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 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 TBD
Last Season Summary
Creighton won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles while returning to the NCAA Tournament in a most unusual season. The global COVID-19 pandemic pushed an abbreviated season into the spring, with limited crowds and face coverings required during the regular-season.
Creighton went 3-1 in non-conference play before opening BIG EAST play by splitting two matches with No. 25 Marquette. The Bluejays won their final six league matches to finish atop the Midwest Division, then defeated UConn and Marquette for their sixth BIG EAST Tournament title in seven seasons.
The entire NCAA Tournament was held in Omaha, but CU fell in five sets to Ohio Valley Conference champ Morehead State in the First Round.
Jaela Zimmerman earned East Region Player of the Year honors from the AVCA and joined on the All-Conference Team alongside Keeley Davis and Naomi Hickman. Hickman was named Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, with Annika Welty and All-Freshman Team honoree Kiara Reinhardt also being named All-Tourney.
Oct. 8 6:30 pm DePaul at #19 Creighton (Nebraska Public Media) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES PDF | DPU NOTES
Oct. 10 1:00 pm Marquette at #19 Creighton (Nebraska Public Media) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES PDF | MU NOTES
This Weekend
No. 19 Creighton (15-2, 3-1 BIG EAST) returns home for the first time in four weeks to take on a pair of teams in the top half of the league standings.
Creighton hosts DePaul (9-7, 2-2 BIG EAST) on Friday at 6:30 p.m., then welcomes Marquette (13-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Both matches will be held at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center in Omaha, Neb.
Mask Policies
Creighton is requiring face coverings to be worn in all indoor spaces at its home athletic venues during athletic competitions during the month of October by all University guests, regardless of their vaccination status.
Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend will be televised by Nebraska Public Media, which can be found on Cox Cable in Omaha on channel 12 or 1012 (HD). Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp will call the action.
Both matches will also be video webcast for free at https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/watch/live/.
Live Stats Information
Every match this season will have free live stats. Exact links are on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting No. 19 Creighton
Creighton is 15-2 this season, including a 12-1 mark away from home, and will be playing in Omaha for just the second time in seven weekends this season. The Bluejays went 12-1 while rampaging through the non-conference schedule, winning a tournament title in each of the first four weeks of the season.
Creighton owns 12 sweeps among its 15 victories, including 3-0 victories vs. No. 3 Kentucky, Missouri, Wichita State, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas City and SMU. The Jays also beat Illinois in four sets and USC in five frames. The only losses have come to No. 3 Nebraska and St. John's.
A Creighton team that returned all six starters from last year's team that won a seventh straight BIG EAST title and made a ninth straight NCAA Tournament trip has had huge contributions from a top-10 class of newcomers.
Leading the Bluejay returnees are Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.98 kps., 3.12 dps.) and Naomi Hickman (1.64 kps., 1.18 bps., .267%), while Keeley Davis (1.30 kps., 0.41 saps.) was also an All-BIG EAST choice each of the past two seasons. The 2020 AVCA East Region Player of the Year, Zimmerman was named MVP of the Bluegrass Battle, the Bluejay Invitational and Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Outside hitter Norah Sis (3.39 kps., 2.89 dps.) became the first freshman in school history to be named All-Tournament after each of the first three events of her career. Classmate Kendra Wait (10.59 aps., 3.04 dps., 0.95 bps., 1.27 kps., .364%) was named MVP of the Mizzou Invitational and also earned three All-Tournament Team accolades. Wait (4) and Sis (1) have combined to win 5-of-6 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors to date.
A third newcomer, High Point transfer Abby Bottomley, leads CU with 5.34 digs per set and is second with 0.38 aces per set. The three-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week earned All-Tournament Team honors in Lexington and Wichita and ranks 20th in NCAA history with 2,457 career digs.
Creighton averages 14.27 kills, 1.50 aces, 18.41 digs and 2.75 blocks per set while hitting .237 as a team. The Jays are holding foes to .128 hitting and 0.82 aces per set.
Scouting DePaul
DePaul is 9-7 on the season and 2-2 in BIG EAST play. The Blue Demons are 4-1 in road matches this fall, including victories at Northwestern and Villanova.
Jill Pressly (3.58 kps., 3.12 dps.), Emma Price (2.38 kps.) and Donna Brown (2.10 kps., .299%, 0.88 bps.) top the team on offense while Rachel Krasowski (5.19 dps.) owns the club lead in digs.
Ashley Cudiamat (5.88 aps.), Molly Murrihy (4.76 aps.) and Phoenix Lee (4.28 aps.) all have taken turns directing the offense.
DePaul averages 13.76 kills, 0.86 aces, 17.14 digs and 2.17 blocks per set on .205 hitting.
Scouting Marquette
Marquette is 13-2 overall and alone in first place in the BIG EAST Conference with a 4-0 league mark. The Golden Eagles are 5-0 in true road matches, as both of its losses came it home to Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Taylor Wolf (2.90 kps., 5.25 aps., 2.27 dps., 0.39 saps.) is a triple-double threat every time she takes the floor and leads MU in kills. Fellow All-BIG EAST performers Savannah Rennie (2.67 kps., 1.29 bps.) and Hope Werch (2.80 kps., 0.36 saps.) are also threats to deal with. Carly Skrabak (2.78 dps.) leads MU in digs and Claire Mosher leads MU with 5.51 assists per set.
As a team, Marquette averages 13.86 kills, 1.61 aces, 14.37 digs and 2.58 blocks per set while hitting a league-high .272.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 398-177 record in her 19th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to seven straight outright BIG EAST titles, and eight league crowns in the previous nine 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 10 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 10 seasons (including 2021), 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. DePaul
Creighton has won 16 of 17 previous meetings with DePaul, and is 16-0 since the two schools became BIG EAST rivals.
DePaul swept the first meeting in 2001 in DeKalb, Ill., before Creighton's recent run, which has included two five-set wins (in Omaha in 2015 and spring 2021), six different four-set wins and eight sweeps.
Creighton has swept seven of the last nine meetings, and enters Friday having won 29 of its past 32 sets played against the Blue Demons.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 16-0 against DePaul and 6-0 versus Marie Zidek.
Series History vs. Marquette
Creighton is 20-5 all-time against Marquette, and are 16-2 since the start of the 2014 season against MU. CU is 11-3 in Omaha against the Golden Eagles, and 8-1 in league play. Creighton has won all five match-ups to go five sets all-time.
Creighton went 2-1 against the Golden Eagles last season, with all three meetings being played in Omaha, including a 3-1 victory in the BIG EAST Tournament title match.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 20-5 against Marquette and 16-2 against Ryan Theis.
Recapping Last Weekend
Creighton went 1-1 last weekend, losing in four sets at St. John's before sweeping Seton Hall 23 hours later.
Norah Sis (26) and Jaela Zimmerman (25) combined for 51 kills and Keeley Davis served up a team-best six aces.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its ninth season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 72-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (65-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 56-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 50-1 league mark and a 6-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2017, Bluejay senior Naomi Hickman is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-126 sets played.
Hall of Fame Weekend
Kelli Browning will become the third volleyball player ever to join the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame when she's inducted on Saturday alongside Mike Tranchilla (men's soccer) and Pat Venditte (baseball).
A Milwaukee-area native, Browning starred at Creighton from 2011-14, where she was a part of Creighton's first two teams to ever win regular-season and conference tournament titles. She led the nation in blocks as a sophomore with 204, and owns Bluejay career records with 602 total blocks and 1.42 blocks per set. She also accumulated 1,104 kills, 44 aces and 165 digs while becoming the first three-time All-American in program history.
Creighton Volleyball's first two Hall of Famers were Melissa Walsh and Korie Lebeda.
Triple Double-Doubles For Ally
Creighton setter Ally Van Eekeren has been used in a reserve role to date this season, but she playing a starring role in the spring vs. Marquette.
Creighton and Marquette played three times last season, and Van Eekeren delivered a double-double in all three contests.
She had 20 assists and 13 digs in CU's 3-2 win on Feb. 5, followed with 17 assists and 10 digs one night later in a 3-0 loss, and turned in 28 assists and 11 digs on April 3rd in the BIG EAST Tournament title tilt.
Van Eekeren owns four double-doubles in 53 career matches played, with three of those coming in the aforementioned matches vs. MU.
The only other Bluejays with three double-doubles against the same BIG EAST team in the same season have been Jaali Winters vs. both Villanova and Marquette in 2018, Maggie Baumert vs. Villanova in 2015 and Michelle Sicner vs. Xavier in 2014.
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 63-6 in October and 62-7 in the month of November.
Narrowing that to the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is a combined 96-8 in the months of October (50-4) and November (46-4).
Creighton has won 31 straight home matches played in the month of October, a streak that could turn 10 years old next week, since losing to No. 12 Northern Iowa on Oct. 15, 2011.
Booth Chases 400th Win at CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth enters this weekend with a 398-178 record on the Creighton sideline, and can reach the 400-win mark with victories over both DePaul and Marquette.
Booth has beaten 91 different schools while at Creighton.
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
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, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since the league's realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013 (through 10/5/21)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (8) 124 12 211 58
Marquette (7) 108 25 196 65
Xavier 81 53 126 116
Butler 73 63 132 114
Villanova (1) 71 65 139 107
St. John's (1) 67 69 150 112
Seton Hall (1) 61 72 121 130
Georgetown 30 98 80 149
DePaul 30 106 90 147
Providence* 19 101 78 138
Connecticut# 7 5 15 12
*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.
Hickman For The Block
Naomi Hickman has been a force at the net throughout her career, but her game seems to step up a notch when she's playing against Marquette.
In 38 career sets vs. Marquette, Hickman owns an astounding 59 blocks. That's good for a 1.55 blocks per set average, and it's coming against what has traditionally been one of the nation's best offenses.
Hickman owns four career matches with 10 or more blocks, with three of those coming against Marquette. She's the only player in Creighton history to produce three matches of 10+ blocks against the same opponent.
Most Blocks In A Match - Naomi Hickman
Blocks Opponent, BA-BS, Sets Date
11 Hickman at #10 Marquette (1-10 in 5s) 10-12-19
11 Hickman vs. #25 Marquette (0-11 in 5s) 02-05-21
10 Hickman vs. #9 Marquette (0-10 in 4s) 11-22-19
10 Hickman vs. DePaul (1-9 in 4s) 11-24-19
Matches With 10+ Blocks, Career
10+ Blocks Name Years
9 Kelli Browning 2011-14
5 Laurel Sanford 2008-11
4 Ashley Williams 2001-04
4 Jessica Houts 2006-09
4 Lauren Smith 2013-16
4 Naomi Hickman 2017-Present
3 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
You Can Count On Her
As a junior Naomi Hickman averaged 1.97 kills and 1.09 blocks per set while hitting .394 in eight matches against top-25 competition.
Last season, Hickman averaged 1.83 kills and 1.67 blocks per set while hitting .463 in regular-season matches against top-50 competition. She was also named MVP of the BIG EAST Championship while helping CU to the title.
When Hickman excels, it usually leads to good things for her team. The Bluejays are 31-4 in her career when she has seven or more kills,
31 Flavors For Davis
Keeley Davis entered Creighton's match at No. 10 Marquette on Oct. 12, 2019 with a season-best of 14 kills, only to go off for 31 kills in the 3-2 win over the Golden Eagles in her first career match inside Al McGuire Center.
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
Bottoms Up
Abby Bottomley compiled an incredible 2,158 digs in four seasons at High Point University. Those 2,158 digs at High Point are more than Brittany Witt's Creighton record (2,079), and helped her lead the Big South Conference in digs each of the previous four seasons.
Bottomley ranks 20th all-time in NCAA history with her 2,457 career digs, trailing only Valparaiso's Rylee Cookerly's 2,833 among active players.
Rk Player, Team Years Digs
1. Lara Newberry, Chatanooga 2005-08 3,176
2. Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso 2017-Pr. 2,833
3. Paula Gentil, Minnesota 2002-05 2,791
4. Kim Diehlmann,Hartford 1989-92 2,780
5. Courtney Pence, Illinois St. 2015-18 2,778
6. Taylor Root, Valparaiso 2009-12 2,752
7. Keellie Arneson, Clemson 2012-15 2,707
8. Raquel Miotto, UNC Asheville 2006-09 2,694
9. Allison Nieters, Iona 2007-10 2,682
10. Ellie Blankenship, UNI 2007-10 2,656
11. Kasey Elswick, UT Martin 2009-12 2,606
12. Stephanie Figgers, SFA 2003-06 2,598
13. Caitlin Strimel, Western Mich. 2006-09 2,583
14. Lena Oliver, Western Mich. 2010-13 2,544
15. Ali McCurdy, Duke 2010-13 2,538
16. Dena Ott, Eastern Kentucky 2011-14 2,518
17. Taylor Horsfall, Tulsa 2016-19 2,489
18. Emily Butters, Missouri St. 2015-18 2,482
19. Marie Dobrenz, Charleston 2003-06 2,475
20. Abby Bottomley, HPU/CU 2017-Pr. 2,457
21. Michelle Walroth, Jacksonville 2006-09 2,456
Defense Wins Championships
Creighton's defense has risen to the occasion time-and-time again this season. The Bluejays have limited opponents to .128 hitting and just 10.95 kills per set. The marks would be the lowest and second-lowest figures ever, respectfully, by a Bluejay opponent over the course of a season.
Creighton has allowed just two opponents (USC, .247; St. John's, .231) to hit .200 or better this season and held eight foes under .100.
Creighton ranks ninth nationally in opponents hitting percentage, seventh nationally in digs per set and 14th nationally in blocks per set. Creighton is the only school ranked in the top 15 of all three categories.
Spearheading the defense from the back row is Abby Bottomley, who ranks 13th in the country with 5.34 digs per set.
Add it all up and that defense is a major reason that Creighton ranks tied for third nationally with 15 victories this fall.
Zimmerman Is One to Watch
Jaela Zimmerman has started her senior season with a bang, winning three Tournament MVP honors and a pair of BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolades.
Here's how her numbers compare to some of the other recent BIG EAST Players of the Year.
Name, Year KPS HIT% SAPS DPS BPS
Barber, '17 4.71 .328 0.09 0.75 0.48
Winters, '18 3.82 .245 0.21 3.06 0.42
Barber, '19 4.66 .307 0.07 0.52 0.34
Alexakou, '20 4.19 .210 0.11 2.74 0.45
Zimmerman, '21 3.98 .225 0.27 3.12 0.46
Bottomley & Wait Triple Up
For the third week in a row Creighton Volleyball's Abby Bottomley and Kendra Wait were honored by the BIG EAST Conference on Sept. 27. Bottomley was named Defensive Player of the Week and Wait recognized as Freshman of the Week.
Bottomley averaged a league-best 7.71 digs in addition to 1.43 assists and 0.57 aces per set as Creighton opened BIG EAST play with road wins at Butler (3-1) and Xavier (3-0). The Virginia Beach, Va., product had a season-high 31 digs in Friday's 3-1 victory at Butler, adding eight assists and three service aces. She wrapped up her weekend with 23 digs, two assists and an ace in a 3-0 sweep vs. Xavier. That gave her 2,437 career digs, good for a tie for 24th in NCAA history. Creighton held the Bulldogs and Musketeers to combined .112 hitting and seven aces in seven sets played.
It was Bottomley's third honor this fall after she earned 14 Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Week recognitions while at High Point from 2017-20. She's the first Bluejay ever to win Defensive Player of the Week honors three straight weeks.
Wait excelled in the first BIG EAST weekend of her career, averaging 11.00 assists, 3.86 digs, 1.57 kills, 0.86 blocks and 0.29 aces per set on .550 hitting.
Wait started her week with 47 assists and a season-high 18 digs in CU's 3-1 win at Butler. Wait added four blocks and four kills in addition to her first career ace. After Butler snapped Creighton's 15-set win streak, Wait had 16 assists, four digs and two kills while setting the Jays to .425 hitting in the decisive fourth frame. She followed that with 30 assists, nine digs and seven kills on .700 hitting in a 3-0 win at Xavier, which also included two blocks and an ace. Wait had kills to end both the second and third sets.
This was the fourth BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honor for Wait in the first five weeks of the season. Teammate Norah Sis won the other one. Wait joined Jaali Winters and Keeley Davis as the only Bluejays to win three straight league Freshman of the Week honors.
League Opener Histories
Creighton owns a 20-8 record all-time in conference openers, including a 17-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes an 8-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, and eight straight wins.
Each of the previous eight times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 126-8 in regular-season league action. Creighton also won seven of the last eight conference tournament titles during those years, going 14-1 in those seasons.
In the 19 previous seasons that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owns a combined .760 (257-81) winning percentage (entering 2021) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Jays have had a losing record five times and it owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In league road openers, Creighton is now 19-9 overall and 16-3 under Booth, with eight straight wins.
In conference home openers Creighton is 22-5 overall and 16-2 under Booth, with 10 straight wins, heading into its Oct. 8 match vs. DePaul.
Long Live September
Creighton won 11 matches in September, its most successful month ever.
Most Wins, Month
W-L Month, Year
11-1 September, 2021
10-1 October 2015
10-3 September 2006
9-0 November, 2012
9-0 October, 2016
9-0 November, 2018
9-1 September, 2019
9-2 September, 2018
9-3 September, 2012
9-4 September, 2004
One And Only
Freshman setter Kendra Wait ranks 30th in the nation in assists per set and 268th in the country in blocks per set.
She's the ONLY player in the country averaging at least 10.50 assists and 0.95 blocks per set.
Wait is one of three freshmen starting setters for a top-25 team, joining Kami Miner (Stanford) and Emma Grome (Kentucky).
Teen Spirit
Creighton is off to a 15-2 start this season. Those 15 victories surpass the win total from all of last season's abbreviated campaign, when the Bluejays finished 12-4 overall. Creighton's 15 wins rank tied for third-most nationally this season, trailing only Delaware State (16-1) and Towson (16-2).
This is the first time that Creighton has started 15-2 or better.
Prior to last season, Creighton, BYU and Florida were the nation's only programs with 25 or more wins in every season from 2014-19.
7 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2020 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win seven straight outright regular-season titles.
No team had won seven 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 seven or more consecutive league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won eight conference regular-season titles. All eight of Creighton's crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared four.
Creighton has also won seven conference tournament titles since 2012, tied for the most in the nation with Dayton and Western Kentucky.
Most Conference Titles Since 2012
Regular-Season League Tournament
8 (0 shared) Creighton 7 Creighton
8 (1) Texas 7 Dayton
8 (4) Western Kentucky 7 Western Kentucky
7 American 6 American
7 BYU 6 Fairfield
7 Colorado State 6 LIU
7 Fairfield
7 Florida A&M
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 137 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 25 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 (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 16-1 - 16-1
Connecticut 0-0 1-0 1-0
DePaul 16-0 - 16-0
Georgetown 14-0 - 14-0
Marquette 13-3 4-1 17-4
Providence 12-0 - 12-0
Seton Hall 12-3 2-0 14-3
St. John's 13-2 0-1 13-3
Villanova 11-3 3-0 14-3
Xavier 17-0 3-0 20-0
Total 124-12 13-2 137-14
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Last season CU was picked to win the Midwest Division and went 7-1 in league play en route to a seventh straight regular-season title.
This spring, a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Creighton as the favorite with 8-of-11 first place votes and 97 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 93 points and the other three votes for first place.
St. John's (83) was picked third, just ahead of Xavier (68) and Villanova (56). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were UConn (48), DePaul (48), Providence (44), Butler (31), Seton Hall (27) and Georgetown (10).
Creighton also had two women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Naomi Hickman and unanimous selection Jaela Zimmerman.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 16 of 18 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 1st (MW) 1st (MW) - -
2021 1st ??? ???
Best Starts Ever
Creighton started this season 6-0 for the first time ever, eclipsing the start by the 2006 team that opened 5-0. Of Creighton's six teams to start 4-0 or better, the first loss for five of those teams came during a home contest and on four occasions, it came against a ranked foe.
Creighton's 15-2 mark to start this year is also the program's best mark with just two losses ever.
Most Wins Before First Loss, CU History
Wins Season Lost to
6 2021 #3 Nebraska
5 2006 Iowa
4 2000 at #6 Hawai'i
4 2012 #21 Kansas State
4 2013 California
4 2017 #18 USC
Most Wins With 1 Loss To Start A Season
Start Season Lost to
14-1 2021 #3 Nebraska
10-1 2006 Iowa
10-1 2012 #21 Kansas State
8-1 2004 Northern Colorado
Lucky Number 4
Creighton won a tournament title each of the first four weekends of the fall, setting a school record.
Previously, only the 2017 team had won three straight events when that club won the Husky Invitational, Bluejay Invitational and Kansas Invitational to open the year.
That being said, the 2017 team lost matches at both the Bluejay Invitational as well as the Kansas Invitational, only to win both events via tiebreaker. This year's team went 3-0 in all three events, winning 36-of-39 sets played.
Zimmerman Playing At An MVP Level
Jaela Zimmerman was named Most Valuable Player at the Bluegrass Battle, the Bluejay Invitational and the Shocker Volleyball Classic over the last three weekends of non-conference play.
It gives her four career MVP honors, having also won the 2019 Creighton Classic MVP accolade in an event that featured Wyoming and Wichita State.
Zimmerman became Creighton's first player to be named MVP of a tournament on back-to-back weekends in Kirsten Bernthal Booth's 19 years at Creighton, and then did it three weeks in a row.
Creighton's only other player under Booth with multiple MVP honors in non-conference play of the same season had been Korie Lebeda in 2006, who took home MVP honors in the 12th Annual Holiday Inn Classic to start the season as well as the Blue Raider Bash in the third week of the fall.
Diaper Dandies
Creighton freshmen Kendra Wait and Norah Sis were both named to the Mizzou Invitational All-Tournament Teams, with Wait bringing home MVP honors after averaging 10.22 assists, 3.56 digs, 1.33 kills and 1.11 blocks per set on .440 hitting.
Wait is the first freshman in CU history to be named MVP of an event to start the season.
Wait and Sis were just the second and third true freshmen in Creighton history to be named All-Tournament following their first event, joining JoDe Cieloha in 1994 at the Tulane Invitational.
One week later, Sis was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the Bluegrass Battle, becoming the first freshman in program history to be All-Tourney after each of her first two events.
Sis is the first Bluejay (of any class) to be named to an All-Tourney Team in each of CU's first three tournaments of a season since Lydia Dimke in 2017. That streak was snapped in week four at the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Creighton's last player to be named to an All-Tournament Team in four straight weeks was Lauren Smith in the fall of 2015.
Both Sis and Wait were also named to the Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team in CU's third week of the year.
In week four, Wait garnered her third All-Tournament Team accolade at the Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Hickman Joins Century Club
Naomi Hickman has played in 103 wins as a Bluejay, and the Sept. 18 win vs. Wichita State made her the ninth player in Creighton Volleyball's modern history to reach the century mark.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
109 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
109 Brittany Witt 2016-19
107 Megan Ballenger 2016-19
106 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
104 Lauren Smith 2013-16
103 Naomi Hickman 2017-Present
102 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
101 Ashley Jansen 2012-15
Top 25 History
Creighton is 129-33 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 15-20 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, 35 of Creighton's 62 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 222-27 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but one of its past 72 home matches over unranked teams and all but six of its last 77 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
After a total of three total top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last seven seasons (2015-21). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Creighton is ranked No. 19 in this week's AVCA poll.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 15-20)
Home: 5-7 Away: 5-7 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
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
Double-Double x 4
Creighton had four women finish with a double-double in its Sept. 11 win vs. Illinois as Norah Sis (20 kills, 11 digs), Keeley Davis (12 kills, 13 digs), Jaela Zimmerman (21 kills, 13 digs) and Kendra Wait (46 assists, 15 digs) all had double-doubles.
It marked the first time since Feb. 5, 2021 that Creighton had four players with a double-double in the same match. Back then, it was Ally Van Eekeren, Keeley Davis, Jaela Zimmerman and Mahina Pua'a with double-dips vs. No. 25 Marquette.
Prior to Feb. 5, it hadn't happened since Nov. 20, 2015, when Jaali Winters, Samantha Bohnet, Jess Bird and Lauren Smith did it at Georgetown.
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
Creighton hosted 11,279 fans on Sept. 8 for its match vs. No. 3 Nebraska at CHI Health Center Omaha.
In addition to being the largest crowd in the nation this season, it was the fourth-biggest home crowd in Creighton history and the 10th-largest volleyball-only regular-season crowd in NCAA history.
In six all-time volleyball matches at CHI Health Center Omaha, Creighton has played before an average of 11,444 fans. That includes 14,022 fans in 2018 for a match vs. Nebraska, a figure that remains the largest regular-season volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history.
Creighton has also hosted the second-largest NCAA Soccer crowd of 2021, having welcomed 6,577 fans to Morrison Stadium on Sept. 18 for a men's soccer game vs. Georgetown.
Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history:
Largest Home Crowds
Att. Opponent Date CU W-L Facility
14,022 #6 Nebraska 09/06/18 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CHI Health Ctr.
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
2,578 #13 Kentucky 09/01/17 W 3-0 Sokol Arena
2,552 South Dakota 11/30/18 W 3-0 Sokol Arena
2,517 Coastal Carolina 12/01/17 W 3-1 Sokol Arena
2,514 #7 Nebraska 08/31/10 L 0-3 Sokol Arena
Largest Crowds (All Sites)
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
14,022 #6 Nebraska 09/06/18 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CHI Health Ctr.
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
8,627 at #5 Nebraska 09/29/02 L 0-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,450 at #2 Nebraska 08/30/19 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,277 vs. Montana St. 09/16/16 W 3-0 Devaney Ctr.
8,249 at #1 Nebraska 09/17/16 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,237 vs. #20 Baylor (@NU) 08/31/19 L 0-3 Devaney Ctr.
Historically Speaking
Here's a look at the top volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Of note, each of the 12 figures of 11,000 or more have been in the state of Nebraska.
Largest Regular-Season NCAA VB-Only Crowds In History
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
14,022 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/6/18 Omaha, NE
13,870 UCLA def. Nebraska, 3-2 9/13/09 Lincoln, NE
13,412 Nebraska def. LSU, 3-0 9/12/08 Lincoln, NE
13,396 Nebraska def. Hawai'i, 3-0 10/21/07 Lincoln, NE
13,081 Cal Poly def. Creighton, 3-0 9/2/07 Omaha, NE
Nebraska def. Penn State, 3-0
12,504 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 11/4/00 Lincoln, NE
12,112 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-1 9/24/06 Omaha, NE
11,892 Dayton def. W. Michigan, 3-0 9/11/10 Lincoln, NE
Nebraska def. Illinois, 3-2
11,529 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 10/22/95 Lincoln, NE
11,279 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-0 9/8/21 Omaha, NE
11,076 Nebraska def. UCLA, 3-1 8/25/07 Omaha, NE
Tennessee def. Utah, 3-2
11,032 UCLA def. Nebraska, 3-1 9/14/91 Lincoln, NE
10,927 Minnesota def. Illinois, 3-1 10/16/04 Minneapolis, MN
10,645 Purdue def. W. Michigan, 3-1 10/29/85 W. Lafayette, IN
10,576 Penn St. def. Hawai'i, 3-0 8/27/05 Omaha, NE
Nebraska def. Stanford, 3-0
10,570 Purdue def. Wisconsin, 3-2 10/17/08 W. Lafayette, IN
Hometown Flavor
Creighton's 2021 roster boasts five players from the state of Nebraska, including Omaha-area products Emily Bressman, Norah Sis and Megan Skovsende. Grand Island native Katie Maser and Lincoln's Jaela Zimmerman round out the in-state natives.
Dear Abby
High Point transfer Abby Bottomley transferred to Creighton this fall and had 10 or more digs in each of her first 16 matches to start this season. She's just the fifth Bluejay ever to start a year that way, and the third to start her Bluejay career in that fashion.
Bottomley needed just seven matches to surpass 100 digs with the Bluejays, third-fastest in program history. She surpassed 200 digs with the Jays in her 12th match, second-fastest in program history. Bottomley enters Friday with 299 digs in her first 17 matches at CU.
Consec. Matches, 10 or More Digs, To Start Season
32# Kate Elman 2012
29 Janeen Piller (every match) 2004
27# Bianca Rivera 2007
18 Brittany Witt 2018
16# Abby Bottomley 2021
9 Nayka Benitez 2010
#streak during first season at CU
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
32 Kate Elman, Aug. 24 - Nov. 30, 2012
30 Kate Elman, Sept. 30, 2013 - Sept. 12, 2014
27 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
23 Julianne Mandolfo, Sept. 9-Nov. 24, 2011
21 Brittany Witt, Nov. 25, 2017 - Oct. 7, 2018
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
18 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Aug. 28, 2010
16 Abby Bottomley, Aug. 27-Oct. 1, 2021
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
15 Nayka Benitez, Nov. 13, 2009-Sept. 10, 2010
15 Allie Oelke, Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2010
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 6 09/02/07 Cal Poly
Brittany Witt 6 09/08/16 #4 Kansas
Abby Bottomley 7 09/08/21 #3 Nebraska
Nayka Benitez 8 09/12/09 Connecticut
Ellie Bolton 8 03/06/21 DePaul
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte
Abby Bottomley 12 09/18/21 vs. South Dakota
Nayka Benitez 13 09/25/09 at Indiana State
Kate Elman 13 09/22/13 Drake
Brittany Witt 13 09/23/16 Marquette
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 15 09/28/07 Illinois State
Kate Elman 17 10/05/12 Northern Iowa
Nayka Benitez 18 10/16/09 at Evansville
Julianne Mandolfo 19 10/16/10 at Drake
Brittany Witt 20 10/16/16 Seton Hall
Sis-ter Act
Freshman Norah Sis had 20 kills in the fourth match of her career, a 3-2 win vs. USC on Sept. 3rd, and then added 20 more vs. Illinois on Sept. 11th in her ninth match.
She's just the second freshman in program history to have a match with 20 or more kills in one of her first 10 matches, joining Carolyn Decker in 2004. Decker did it in her second match. Sis is the first Bluejay to ever have multiple contests of 20+ kills in her first 10 matches.
Sis is the 11th Bluejay freshman ever to have a match with 20 or more kills, and first since Keeley Davis in 2019.
Creighton Freshmen With 20+ Kills in a Match
Times Name (High) MP Before 1st Time Year
9 Jaali Winters (28) 13 2015
4 Melissa Walsh (30) 15 1998
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 12 1994
2 Norah Sis (20) 4 2021
1 Michelle Prorock (23) 21 1994
1 Shelly Kapler (22) 16 1996
1 Jodi Bjoin (21) 18 1999
1 Kelly Goc (20) 11 2004
1 Carolyn Decker (22) 2 2004
1 Allie Oelke (23) 14 2007
1 Keeley Davis (31) 16 2019
Speaking of Sis
While we're on the topic of Norah Sis, the freshman surpassed 100 career kills in her ninth match of the season vs. Illinois.
That matches Jaali Winters for second-fastest in program history to that milestone, trailing only JoDe Cieloha (8 in 1994).
Sis owns 190 kills in her first 17 matches heading into Friday.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
JoDe Cieloha 8 09/23/94 at Drake
Jaali Winters 9 09/12/15 Pacific
Norah Sis 9 09/11/21 Illinois
Melissa Walsh 10 09/26/98 at Bradley
Carolyn Decker 10 09/18/04 Illinois State
Keeley Davis 10 09/21/19 Wyoming
Creighton's Quickest Players To 200 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 15 09/27/15 Villanova
Melissa Walsh 16 10/16/98 at Indiana State
JoDe Cieloha 18 10/30/94 at UMKC
Allie Oelke 18 10/06/07 at So. Illinois
Keeley Davis 18 10/20/19 Xavier
Against The Champs
Creighton improved to 1-5 all-time against defending national champions with a 3-0 win at No. 3 Kentucky on Sept. 4, 2021.
CU was swept by Nebraska (2001 and 2005) and Stanford (2005), lost in four sets to Nebraska (2016) and in five sets to Nebraska (2018) prior to this year's victory in Lexington.
Creighton also improved to 2-10 all-time against teams the season after a Final Four appearance, and 2-6 on the road. Prior to UK, the lone victory came on Dec. 2, 2016, when CU outlasted Kansas to clinch the program's second Sweet 16 trip in program history.
CU vs. Previous Year Final Four Teams
Date Result Previous Year Finish
09/25/01 Nebraska 3, CU 0 NCAA Champion
09/10/05 Stanford 3, CU 0 NCAA Champion
09/24/06 Nebraska 3, CU 1 NCAA Runner-Up
08/31/07 Nebraska 3, CU 0 NCAA Champion
09/01/09 Nebraska 3, CU 0 Final Four
09/17/15 Nebraska 3, CU 1 NCAA Champion
09/08/16 Kansas 3, CU 2 Final Four
12/02/16 CU 3, Kansas 2 Final Four
12/10/16 Texas 3, CU 0 NCAA Runner-Up
09/06/18 Nebraska 3, CU 2 NCAA Champion
08/30/19 Nebraska 3, CU 1 NCAA Runner-Up
09.04/21 CU 3, Kentucky 1 NCAA Champion
Booth Earns 500th Career Win
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth picked up her 500th career victory on Sept. 4 when Creighton defeated No. 3 Kentucky.
It came in the fifth match of her 22nd season, and improved her to 500-216 as a head coach and 388-175 in 19 years at Creighton.
Booth's 398 Division I wins rank 55th-most among active coaches, but are second-most among coaches who have spent 19 years or less at the Division I level, and one behind Purdue's Dave Shondell.
More Tidbits From Kentucky
A few additional leftover notes from the win over Kentucky that will impress your friends and neighbors, but don't fit in elsewhere in these notes.
- Since the start of 2015, Kentucky is 157-38, but just 1-5 against Creighton. No other program has beaten the Wildcats more than three times.
- Kentucky First Team All-American Alli Stumler's six kills vs. Creighton were her least in a match since she had five on Nov. 8, 2019 at Georgia, which was 39 matches ago.
- Creighton's 3-0 win snapped a streak of 59 matches in a row for UK without being swept .
- Creighton's 3-0 win also snapped Kentucky's nation-leading win streak of 12 matches and was Kentucky's first loss at home in 18 straight matches.
- Creighton's 3-0 win was the first home sweep for Kentucky since Nov. 1, 2017 vs. Florida (49 matches).
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kendra Wait and Norah Sis on Aug. 27 vs. Kansas City, Creighton has started 14 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 18 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), Kiara Reinhardt (2020), Kendra Wait (2021) and Norah Sis (2021), with Coleman, Lebeda and Wait the only freshmen to start at setter in the season-opener.
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.
Eight of those women (Reinhardt, Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC or BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team (though the BIG EAST had no such team from 2013-19). 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.
This year marked the first time that Creighton started multiple true freshmen in a season-opener since 2012, when Ashley Jansen and Melanie Jereb both earning a starting nod.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Eve Magill, Abbey Milner, Norah Sis and Kendra Wait was recognized as the nation's No. 5 class last fall by PrepVolleyball.
Wait was tabbed the nation's No. 7 freshman recruit, making her the program's most-decorated recruit since 2004. Sis, at No. 28, is the program's third-highest recruit (behind Wait and No. 18 in 2015's Taryn Kloth), with No. 31 Eve Magill not far behind.
In the summer, Volleyball Magazine recognized CU's group of newcomers (which included the four freshmen and Abby Bottomley) as the No. 8 incoming class in the nation.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004)
Rank Year Player
68 2004 Carolyn Decker
55 2008 Laurel Sanford
60 2011 Michelle Sicner
73 2013 Jess Bird
50 2014 Lydia Dimke*
18 2015 Taryn Kloth
41 2015 Jaali Winters
77 2016 Erica Kostelac#
98 2017 Naomi Hickman
99 2017 Steph Gaston
49 2018 Jaela Zimmerman
42 2018 Keeley Davis
46 2020 Kiara Reinhardt
97 2020 Ellie Bolton
7 2021 Kendra Wait
28 2021 Norah Sis
31 2021 Eve Magill
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton
PrepVolleyball.com Recruiting Rankings
(list started in 2004)
Year Rank Freshman Recruits
2004 Best of the Rest (Baumann, Decker, Goc, Lahm, Mehal)
2005 Honorable-Mention (Cvejdlik, Houts, Lebeda)
2006 None (Bloemke, Schulze, Workman)
2007 None (Feldman, Oelke, Vrbicky)
2008 Highest Honorable-Mention (Almgren, Bober, Sanford)
2009 Highest HM Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010 High HM (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011 Highest HM (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner, Stivers)
2012 High Honorable-Mention (Elman, Jansen, Jereb, L. Smith)
2013 None (Bird, Crawford, Foje)
2014 Highest Honorable-Mention (Lawrence, Tupper, Wilkinson)
2015 11th (Ballenger, Bohnet, Kloth, O'Connell, Winters)
2016 High Honorable-Mention (Conlon, Taylor, Witt)
2017 25th (Gaston, Hickman, Roumeliotis)
2018 10th (Davis, Welty, Zimmerman, Zumach)
2019 Highest HM (Bressman, Krause, Schmitt, Van Eekeren)
2020 27th (Bolton, Maser, Reinhardt, Skovsende)
2021 5th (Magill, Milner, Sis, Wait)
Familiar Face
Senior Naomi Hickman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past five years. She's the 16th player to start four season openers, but the only one to do so five times.
Four or More 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 2017-21
Non-Conference Comes to a Close
Armed with a 12-1 mark, Creighton finished non-conference play with a record of .500 or better for the seventh straight year, no small feat considering the degree of difficulty that head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth regularly challenges her team with prior to league play.
This season also clinched a 12th straight campaign of five or more non-league victories.
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-15 letterwinners to the court from last season, including all six starters, as well as returning libero Ellie Bolton.
From last year's team, only Grace Nelson, Mahina Pua'a, Erica Kostelac and Makenna Krause are not back.
Creighton returns 98.4 percent of its blocks, its most since 2007 (99.3).
Creighton returns 94.3 percent of its kills, most since 2016 (94.7).
Creighton returns 93.7 percent of its points, most since 2014 (99.1).
Creighton returns 86.5 percent of its starts, most since 2014 (98.1).
Creighton returns 81.7 percent of its digs, most since 2017 (95.0).
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 595.5 of a possible 700% back (85.1 percent), which would be its highest since 2014 (99.1).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Blocks 153 (98.4%) 2.5 (1.6%)
Kills 763 (94.3%) 46 (5.7%)
Points 987.0 (93.7%) 66.5 (6.3%)
Matches Started 83 (86.5%) 13 (13.5%)
Digs 734 (81.7%) 164 (18.3%)
Aces 71 (79.8%) 18 (20.2%)
Assists 462 (61.5%) 289 (38.5%)
Nine Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last nine seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments (2012-20). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eight different Bluejay to earn that role in the past 10 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, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019. Last season Mahina Pua'a earned the nod on opening night, while Wait started this season.
The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous nine seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and eight of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
Creighton won eight of those 10 season-opening matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 398-3 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
Third Set's A Charm
Since an Oct. 10, 2014 loss at Seton Hall, Creighton is a perfect 103-0 against BIG EAST teams (93-0 in the regular-season and 10-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-32 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-0 mark this season 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 16 of its last 21 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, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 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 4-2 12-4
2021 1-0 15-2
Total 77-60 491-329
Block Around The Clock
Naomi Hickman is in the top-10 of every one of Creighton's career blocking records. She is currently fourth with 394 block assists, sixth with 425 total blocks and ninth with 1.00 blocks per set.
Career Records
Block Assists
Name Sets No. Years
1. Kelli Browning 424 547 2011-14
2. Jessica Houts 451 536 2005-09
3. Lauren Smith 511 499 2013-16
4. Naomi Hickman 426 394 2017-Pr.
5. Megan Bober 480 380 2009-12
Total Blocks
Name Sets BS BA Tot. Years
1. Jessica Houts 451 73 536 609 2005-09
2. Kelli Browning 424 55 547 602 2011-14
3. Lauren Smith 511 61 499 560 2013-16
4. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04
5. JoDe Cieloha 398 106 331 437 1994-97
6. Naomi Hickman 426 31 394 425 2017-Pr.
7. Megan Bober 480 42 380 422 2009-12
Blocks Per Set (Min. 80 Blocks)
Name Sets No. Avg. Years
1. Kelli Browning 424 602 1.42 2011-14
2. Jessica Houts 451 609 1.35 2005-09
3. Ashley Williams 359 447 1.25 2001-04
4. Taffy Smart 73 88 1.21 1998
5. Laurel Sanford 369 419 1.14 2008-11
6. JoDe Cieloha 398 437 1.098 1994-97
7. Lauren Smith 511 560 1.096 2013-16
8. Sarah Beulke 299 307 1.03 2001-04
9. Naomi Hickman 426 425 1.00 2017-Pr.
10. Megan Waldren 87 81 0.93 1994
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played four matches against 2019 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 3-1 against such teams.
This year's team owned four matches (Missouri, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota) scheduled against teams that made the 2020 NCAA Tournament, and they went 3-1 vs. that gauntlet.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 89-101 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 3-1
2021 3-1
TOTAL 92-136
TOTAL Under Booth 89-101
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 330-11 (.968) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 273-5 mark (.982) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 199-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 100-1 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 15-201 (.069) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 15 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
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 334-32 (.913) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-145 (.306) 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 113-3 in its last 116 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific, on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska and on Jan. 29, 2021 to South Dakota.
Creighton has gone 66-2 in its last 68 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-11 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 108-2 in its last 110 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Marian Pipeline
This is the 19th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as junior Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive.
Last season was the first time since 2010 that Creighton's year-end leader in digs wasn't 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.
2021: Emily Bressman
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
Perfect Ten
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 10 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 10 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 10
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 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 owns 398 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history.
Coach, Sport Victories (as of 10/7/21)
Brent Vigness, Softball 804*
Ed Servais, Baseball 587*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 478*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 398*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 356*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
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 against elite competition.
Creighton is 7-10 against ranked non-conference foes over the last four seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Creighton owned 12 non-conference wins this season to set a program record for a regular-season. It's actually also the first season with 10 wins prior to league play.
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 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 TBD
Last Season Summary
Creighton won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles while returning to the NCAA Tournament in a most unusual season. The global COVID-19 pandemic pushed an abbreviated season into the spring, with limited crowds and face coverings required during the regular-season.
Creighton went 3-1 in non-conference play before opening BIG EAST play by splitting two matches with No. 25 Marquette. The Bluejays won their final six league matches to finish atop the Midwest Division, then defeated UConn and Marquette for their sixth BIG EAST Tournament title in seven seasons.
The entire NCAA Tournament was held in Omaha, but CU fell in five sets to Ohio Valley Conference champ Morehead State in the First Round.
Jaela Zimmerman earned East Region Player of the Year honors from the AVCA and joined on the All-Conference Team alongside Keeley Davis and Naomi Hickman. Hickman was named Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, with Annika Welty and All-Freshman Team honoree Kiara Reinhardt also being named All-Tourney.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball - All-Access Spring Ball Trailer
Wednesday, May 27
Creighton Volleyball vs Nebraska Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Nebraska Volleyball vs Creighton Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Creighton Volleyball Media Availability - 4/15/26
Wednesday, April 15
