Friday, November 12
Washington, D.C.
1:00 PM
Creighton University
at
Georgetown
Photo by: Catherine Grosdidier
#23 Volleyball Visits Georgetown & Villanova
11/9/2021 12:05:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton seeks seventh 25-win season in past eight years
This Weekend
Nov. 12 1 pm CT #23 Creighton at Georgetown (HoyaVision) Washington, D.C. (McDonough Arena)
LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF)
Nov. 13 6 pm CT #23 Creighton at Villanova (FloSports) Villanova, Pa. (Jake Nevin Fieldhouse)
LIVE VIDEO ($) | FLOSPORTS SUBSCRIPTION INFO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF)
This Weekend
No. 23 Creighton (24-3, 12-2 BIG EAST) hit the road for the final time this regular-season with a trip to the East Coast to meet up with Georgetown (6-19, 2-12 BIG EAST) and Villanova (14-12, 6-8 BIG EAST).
The weekend begins with a Friday matinee at McDonough Arena in Washington D.C., when CU faces the Hoyas at 1 p.m. Central.
CU's final road match of the regular-season takes place on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Central when CU returns to Villanova, Pa., to face the Wildcats inside Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.
Broadcast Information
Friday's match at Georgetown will air on HoyaVision. A 24-hour pass to subscribe costs a one-time fee of $6.95 and can be purchased at https://guhoyas.com/watch/purchase.aspx.
Saturday's match at Villanova will air on FloSports, a subscription-based service. More information about discounted subscription rates to all FloSports programming can be found at http://GoCreighton.com/FloSports.
Live Stats Information
Every match this season will have free live stats.
Exact links are on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting No. 23 Creighton
Creighton is 24-3 overall this season, tied for first in the BIG EAST with a 12-2 league mark, but owns two wins over co-leader Marquette. 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 18 sweeps among its 24 victories, including 3-0 victories vs. No. 3 Kentucky, Missouri, Wichita State, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas City and SMU. The Jays also have beaten Marquette (twice), Illinois and Omaha in four sets and USC in five frames. The only losses have come to No. 3 Nebraska, St. John's and UConn.
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.
Norah Sis (3.65 kps., 2.97 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 (10.57 aps., 3.12 dps., 0.85 bps., 1.20 kps., .313%) was named MVP of the Mizzou Invitational and also earned three All-Tournament Team accolades. Wait (5) and Sis (5) have combined to win 10-of-11 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors to date.
A third newcomer, High Point transfer Abby Bottomley, leads CU with 5.06 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 11th in NCAA history with 2,608 career digs.
Senior OH Jaela Zimmerman (3.82 kps., 3.21 dps.) is a six-rotation star and the BIG EAST's only player averaging at least 3.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set. Named the 2020 AVCA East Region Player of the Year, Zimmerman is a two-time All-BIG EAST choice and was named MVP of the Bluegrass Battle, the Bluejay Invitational and Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Creighton averages 14.15 kills, 1.53 aces, 18.32 digs and 2.80 blocks per set while hitting .239 as a team. The Bluejays are holding foes to .129 hitting and 0.85 aces per set.
Scouting Georgetown
Georgetown is 6-19 this season and 2-12 in BIG EAST play. The Hoyas own conference victories against UConn (Oct. 9) and Villanova (Nov. 3).
Mary Grace Goyena (2.61 kps.) and Giselle Williams (2.67 kps.) carry much of the load on offense, with Emma Plutnicki (7.38 aps.) and Lilly Costigan (8.13 aps.) each having their moments at setter.
Jessica Cusi (4.41 dps., 0.32 saps.) leads the Hoyas in digs and service aces and Chanelle Smith (1.10 bps.) and Makayla Serrett (0.97 bps.) are the top blockers.
As a team, Georgetown averages 11.18 kills, 1.41 aces, 15.38 digs and 2.06 blocks per set on .153 hitting.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova is 14-12 on the season and 6-8 in league play. The Wildcats have alternated 2-0 and 0-2 weekends during the past month and fell at Georgetown (3-2) and at UConn (3-0) last weekend.
Riley Homer (3.47 kps.), Kiera Booth (2.40 kps.), Sanaä Barnes (2.07 kps.) and Rose Crist (2.29 kps) lead the Wildcats offensively.
Belle Morgan (9.93 aps.) runs the offense and Averi Salvador (4.15 dps.) also returns after being named the 2020 BIG EAST Libero of the Year.
As a team, Villanova averages 12.38 kills, 1.35 aces, 14.09 digs and 1.56 blocks per set on .212 hitting.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 407-178 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. Georgetown
Creighton is 15-0 all-time against Georgetown, dropping just seven sets in those contests.
In 2015, Creighton lost the first two sets before ultimately saving two match points in a 3-2 road victory. In 2017 Creighton trailed 2-1 in the match before pulling out a 15-13 win in the fifth set after it trailed in the last set by scores of 5-0 and 13-12.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 15-0 against Georgetown and 1-0 against David Heller.
Series History vs. Villanova
Creighton is 15-3 all-time vs. Villanova, including conference tournament wins in 2015, 2017 and 2018. CU is 4-3 in Pennsylvania against the Wildcats, with losses in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 15-3 all-time against Villanova and coach Josh Steinbach.
Recapping Last Weekend
Creighton remained atop the BIG EAST standings with wins over Xavier (3-0) and Butler (3-1) to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Championships. Norah Sis led Creighton with 28 kills and Abby Bottomley picked up 40 digs to pace the defense.
Sis Wins Fifth Freshman of the Week Honor
Norah Sis wan named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this season on Nov. 8.
The Papillion product averaged 4.00 kills, 3.29 digs, 0.43 blocks and 0.14 aces per set on .294 hitting as the Bluejays defeated Xavier (3-0) and Butler (3-1).
Sis led Creighton's offense in both matches with 14 kills. She had nine digs, three blocks and an ace on .423 hitting in the sweep vs. Xavier, then contributed 14 digs in the 3-1 win vs. Butler that clinched a spot in the league tournament. It was Sis' 12th double-double of the fall.
Her 4.00 kills per set for the week were tied for the most in the league last week, and led all players on teams who won at least once.
The five Freshman of the Week honors by Sis ties the amount won by teammate Kendra Wait, as the Bluejay duo have now combined to win 10-of-11 weekly awards this fall.
CU/VU Could Be A Real Track Meet
Villanova right side hitter Sanaä Barnes is a top attacker for the Wildcats and one of the best athletes in the league, but she'd have her hands full with a pair of Bluejay freshmen on the track.
Barnes is a two-time BIG EAST champion and four-time All-American (twice indoors, twice outdoors) in the high jump and owns the Nova record of 1.87 meters (6-foot-11/2) in the event, which she set when she was a finalist at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
Barnes high jumped 5-foot-6 as a high school freshman at the Texas state meet and 5-foot-9 as a high school senior, finishing as runner-up in the state's 6A class each of those years.
By comparison, Creighton freshman Norah Sis won the Nebraska state meet as a freshman and senior in high school by clearing 5-foot-8 both times.
And with all that being said, neither one might be able to match what Bluejay freshman Kendra Wait did in late May at the Kansas state meet, where she won state titles in the 100 meter dash (12.02), long jump (18-5), pole vault (11-0) and shot put (42-2.5) in a span of three hours.
The Creighton 500
Creighton owns a 500-330 record since reinstating volleyball in 1994, reaching the 500-win mark on Nov. 7 with a win vs. Butler.
Since 1994, Creighton have had three head coaches and 135 different women have appeared in a match.
Here's a look at Creighton's record since its 1994 reinstatement at the time of some of the milestone victories:
W-L Opponent Date 1-0 vs. Chattanooga 9/2/94
50-91 vs. Southern Illinois 9/10/99
100-160 at Bradley 10/4/03
150-197 Drake 9/22/06
200-224 Texas Tech 8/28/09
250-263 Wichita State 11/4/11
300-278 Georgetown 11/22/13
350-297 Butler 11/15/15
400-310 Seton Hall 10/22/17
450-320 at Seton Hall 10/5/19
500-330 Butler 11/7/21
Wait For It...
Kendra Wait owns 962 assists this season through 27 matches (91 sets) and stands a solid chance of cracking the 1,000 mark this weekend.
In program history, only five previous women have reached 1,000 career assists in 96 sets or fewer. Only two of those women (Korie Lebeda and Brittany Coleman) did it as true freshmen, as Wait is trying to do.
Wait would be the 10th player in Creighton history to reach 1,000 career assists.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Assists (Career)
Name SP MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 77 23 10/29/05 Missouri St.
Brittany Coleman 86 23 11/01/03 Northern Iowa
Lydia Dimke 88 26 11/06/16 Xavier
Madelyn Cole 93 26 11/03/18 at Seton Hall
Kailey Reyes 97 27 09/04/99 Boise State
Maggie Baumert 103 32 11/29/14 vs. Seton Hall
Megan Bober 106 28 11/20/09 at #21 No. Iowa
Melissa Weisensee 119 35 09/20/95 Wichita State
Michelle Sicner 267 72 10/04/13 at Butler
On A Roll
Creighton has won seven straight matches and can equal a season-best winning streak with a victory on Friday at Georgetown.
Creighton owns 10 win streaks of eight or longer in program history, all of which have come since 2008.
Consecutive Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By
23 Sept. 23-Dec. 9, 2016 at #5 Texas, 3-0
21 Sept. 21 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
17 Sept. 29-Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
14 Sept. 19-Nov. 3, 2019 at Villanova, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015 at Villanova, 3-2
11 Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0
11 Oct. 6-Nov. 12, 2017 at Villanova, 3-0
10 Oct. 31-Dec. 5, 2015 vs. #2 USC, 3-1
8 Oct. 25-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. Northern Iowa, 3-2
8 Sept. 10-25, 2021 at St. John's, 3-1
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
7 Oct. 17, 2021-Present ? ? ?
On A Roll At Home, Too
Creighton has won each of its last nine home matches, and 15 contests in a row inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
When Creighton returns home on Nov. 19 vs. Seton Hall, the Bluejays will have a chance to earn its seventh win streak of 10 or more consecutive home victories.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2015 #4 Kansas, 3-2
12 Sept. 19, 2019 - Jan. 29, 2021 South Dakota, 3-2
10 Sept. 2-Dec. 1, 2017 #12 Michigan State, 3-1
9 Sept. 20, 2014-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0
9 Sept. 10, 2021-Present ? ? ?
8 Sept. 25-Nov. 20, 2010 Northern Illinois, 3-0
Road Kill
Creighton owns a 9-2 record in true road matches. Nationally, the only team with more than nine road wins is top-ranked Louisville (10-0).
Excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Creighton has won nine or more road matches in each of the past six seasons and eight or more road wins in nine campaigns.
Creighton's 15 wins away from home (9 road, 6 neutral) are tied with for the most in the country with High Point and Houston. Both the Panthers and the Cougars are at home this weekend.
Leading Women
Speaking of leading the country, Creighton also shares the national lead with 75 sets won so far this fall. The Bluejays are 75-16 in sets, while Ball State is 75-25.
Hickman Shares Wins Record
Naomi Hickman has played in 111 wins as a Bluejay, as the Sept. 18 win vs. Wichita State made her the ninth player in Creighton Volleyball's modern history to reach the century mark.
Hickman has tied Jaali Winters for the school-record by playing in 111 victories and can take sole possession of the mark with a win this weekend.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
111 Naomi Hickman 2017-Present
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
Welty Heats Up
Annika Welty has traditionally been at her best at the end of the season, and this year is playing out much the same way.
Welty is averaging 2.43 kills and 1.29 blocks per set on .244 hitting this November. Taking out the 2020 season that was held in the spring of 2021, Welty has continually upped her game as the stakes increase.
Annika Welty By Month
KPS PCT. BPS PPS
Aug./Sept. 1.11 .208 .88 1.75
Oct. 1.43 .333 1.05 2.04
Nov./Dec. 1.74 .196 .83 2.20
Total 1.32 .231 .91 1.92
X Marks The Spot
Creighton owns 21 consecutive wins over Xavier, its best streak over any foe ever. CU's 15-match win streak over Georgetown is one victory shy of a spot in the top-five.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
21 Xavier 2013-Present
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
18 DePaul 2013-Present
17 Butler 2013-Present
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
15 Georgetown 2013-Present
Worth Her Wait In Gold
Creighton Volleyball's Kendra Wait was named Freshman of the Week as well as Defensive Player of the Week by the BIG EAST Conference on Monday, Nov. 1.
It's Wait's fifth time being honored as Freshman of the Week, having also been recognized on Aug. 30, Sept. 13, Sept. 20 and Sept. 27. Wait is third Bluejay ever to be a five-time conference Freshman of the Week, joining Keeley Davis (10 times in 2019) and Jaali Winters (six times in 2015). Both Davis and Winters went on to be named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST every season of their careers to date. It was the first Defensive Player of the Week recognition for the native of Gardner, Kan.
Wait averaged 9.57 assists, 5.00 digs, 1.57 kills and 1.00 blocks per set on .400 hitting as Creighton moved into a tie for first place in the BIG EAST with road wins at Marquette (3-1) and DePaul (3-0).
Wait opened her week with 40 assists, 21 digs, six kills and two blocks in a 3-1 win at Marquette. Wait's 21 digs were a season-high as she became just the seventh different player in Bluejay 40 assists and 20 digs in a match, and first since former BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke in 2016.
She then had 27 assists, 14 digs, five blocks and five kills on .500 hitting in the sweep at DePaul, her team-high 12th double-double of the fall.
Freshmen On Fire
Even though scouting reports have been adjusted to stop them, freshman Norah Sis has averaged 4.11 kills and 3.00 digs per set on .292 hitting in the last 11 matches and Kendra Wait has averaged 10.58 assists, 3.21 digs, 1.11 kills and 0.71 blocks per set on .250 hitting in the same span.
Here's how their numbers compare to the freshmen seasons of some other prominent Bluejays from the past. Also listed are their statistics and how they compare to the nation's other top freshmen on top-25 teams.
Creighton Freshmen - Top Attackers
Name, Year KPS HIT% SAPS DPS BPS
Jaali Winters, 2015 4.07 .232 .13 2.49 .44
Melissa Walsh, 1998 3.75 .236 .07 2.76 .88
Norah Sis, 2021 3.65 .247 .18 2.97 .56
JoDe Cieloha, 1994 3.39 .233 .29 2.00 .70
Keeley Davis, 2019 3.35 .219 .31 1.37 .41
Allie Oelke, 2007 3.29 .179 .36 3.19 .56
Amanda Cvejdlik, 2005 2.85 .242 .00 .22 .66
Jessica Houts, 2005 2.84 .264 .16 .57 1.27
Kelly Goc, 2004 2.72 .244 .08 .46 .77
Carolyn Decker, 2004 2.70 .188 .36 2.42 .36
Melanie Jereb, 2012 2.47 .236 .13 2.74 .65
Top 25 Freshmen With 200+ Kills in 2021
Name, Year K KPS HIT% DPS BPS
Norah Sis, Creighton 332 3.65 .247 2.97 .56
Charitie Luper, UCLA 221 3.75 .295 2.15 .58
Bianca Bertolino, Ga. Tech 219 2.55 .253 2.85 .48
Julia Orzol, Wisconsin 202 3.21 .201 2.08 .51
Creighton Freshmen - Top Setters
Name, Year APS KPS SAPS DPS BPS
Korie Lebeda, 2005 13.34 .59 .22 2.54 .66
Brittany Coleman, 2003 11.71 .41 .22 2.53 .26
Kendra Wait, 2021 10.57 1.20 .12 3.12 .85
Kailey Reyes, 1998 10.23 .86 .27 3.40 .42
Megan Bober, 2009 9.63 1.17 ..12 1.93 .93
Melissa Weisensee, 1994 8.26 .90 .41 2.71 .26
Top 25 Freshmen With 800+ Assists in 2021
Name, Year A APS KPS DPS BPS
Kendra Wait, Creighton 962 10.57 1.20 3.12 .85
Emma Grome, Kentucky 886 11.36 .26 2.08 .55
Kami Miner, Stanford 870 11.30 .70 2.21 .51
Sis, Boom, Ahhh...
Norah Sis is playing a starring role despite her freshman status, averaging 3.65 kills per set.
In program history, only five freshmen have ever averaged more than three kills per set over the course of a season, as seen below:
Most Kills Per Set, Creighton Freshman
(min. 100 kills)
KPS Name Year
4.07 Jaali Winters 2015
3.75 Melissa Walsh 1998
3.65 Norah Sis 2021
3.39 JoDe Cieloha 1994
3.35 Keeley Davis 2019
3.29 Allie Oelke 2007
Freshmen Not Phased
Bluejay freshmen Kendra Wait and Norah Sis have had double-doubles both times they have faced Marquette this season.
In two matches vs. Marquette this season, Sis has averaged 4.75 kills, 3.38 digs and 0.62 blocks per set on .330 hitting.
In two matches vs. Marquette this season, Wait has averaged 11.75 assists, 4.25 digs, 1.25 kills, 0.50 blocks and 0.38 aces per set on .296 hitting.
Creighton has gone 6-1 in seven matches this fall against teams who have received Top 25 votes in any AVCA poll this season. In those contests, Sis averages 4.15 kills and 3.04 digs per set and hits .253 while Wait averages 10.62 assists, 3.42 digs, 0.77 blocks and 1.31 kills per set on .313 hitting.
Wait (5) and Sis (5) have combined to win 10-of-11 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors this fall.
Aug. 30: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Sept. 6: Norah Sis, Creighton
Sept. 13: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Sept. 20: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Sept. 27: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Oct. 4: Shaliyah Rhoden, Providence
Oct. 11: Norah Sis, Creighton
Oct. 18: Norah Sis, Creighton
Oct. 25: Norah Sis, Creighton
Nov. 1: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Nov. 8: Norah Sis, Creighton
This Is 20/20
Kendra Wait etched her name in the Creighton record books when she had 40 assists and 21 digs at Marquette on Oct. 29.
She is the seventh Bluejay in history to have a match with at least 20 assists and 20 digs, and first to do it since 2016 BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke had 41 assists and 20 digs vs. Wichita State.
20 Assists, 20 Digs In A Match
A D Name Opp. Date
40 21 K. Wait at Marquette (4s) 10/29/21
41 20 L. Dimke vs. Wichita State (5s) 08/27/16
44 21 M. Sicner Xavier (4s) 11/29/13
27 20 M. Sicner Illinois State (4s) 09/30/11
71 20 K. Lebeda at Evansville (5s) 11/18/06
62 21 B. Coleman at So. Illinois (4s) 10/29/04
54 22 B. Coleman at Illinois State (4s) 10/18/03
45 20 K. Reyes vs. Evansville (4s) 11/24/00
64 23 K. Reyes at Evansville (5s) 11/04/00
44 23 K. Reyes Bradley (4s) 10/28/00
49 28 K. Reyes at Illinois State (4s) 10/13/00
40 21 K. Reyes Missouri State (4s) 11/06/99
65 24 K. Reyes Illinois State (4s) 09/24/99
55 28 K. Reyes Evansville (5s) 09/11/99
65 22 M. Weisensee at Evansville (5s) 11/08/97
46 21 M. Weisensee Missouri State (4s) 10/31/97
46 38 M. Weisensee Evansville (4s) 10/10/97
40 23 M. Weisensee at Drake (5s) 09/13/97
53 24 M. Weisensee at Indiana St. (5s) 10/18/96
51 21 M. Weisensee at Wichita St. (5s) 09/14/96
47 22 M. Weisensee Bradley (4s) 09/09/94
The Head-to-Head Difference
Creighton and Marquette have dominated the BIG EAST in recent seasons, but CU has owned the overall edge in the standings due largely to the Bluejays' ability to defeat the Golden Eagles on a regular basis.
Since the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is 18-2 in head-to-head meetings against Marquette and owns just eight losses against the rest of the BIG EAST (3 to Villanova, 2 each to St. John's and Seton Hall and 1 to UConn).
Marquette is 2-18 in head-to-head meetings against Creighton and owns 15 losses to the rest of the BIG EAST (4 to Xavier, 3 each to Butler, St. John's and Villanova and 2 to Seton Hall).
Both MU wins vs. Creighton in the past eight seasons have been 3-0 sweeps, while CU owns five 3-0 sweeps, nine 3-1 wins and four 3-2 victories against MU since 2014.
Both of Marquette's last two regular-season BIG EAST home losses have come to Creighton, as the Jays snapped an 11-match streak in 2019 and a 10-match home win streak in league play on Oct. 29. Take out two home losses to Creighton and Marquette hasn't lost a regular-season league match at home since falling to Butler on Oct. 21, 2017.
Creighton's been equally tough at home in league play, where it is 56-1 in regular-season home league matches since November of 2014. 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.
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 straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
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 11/9/21)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (8) 133 13 220 59
Marquette (7) 116 27 204 67
Xavier 84 60 129 124
Butler 79 67 138 118
Villanova (1) 76 70 144 112
St. John's (1) 70 76 153 119
Seton Hall (1) 64 79 124 137
DePaul 36 110 96 151
Georgetown 32 106 82 157
Providence* 21 109 80 146
Connecticut# 15 7 23 14
*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.
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
Service With A Smile
Keeley Davis owns 40 aces this season (second in the BIG EAST) and has been on an absolute tear from the service line since CU's win vs. Nebraska-Omaha on Sept. 11th.
Davis has owned multiple aces in 11 of her last 18 matches, and has 33 aces and 34 service errors in that span.
Her 0.44 aces per set would rank third-most in Creighton single-season history. She's the eighth Bluejay with 40 or more aces in a season.
Service Aces
Name Sets No. Year
1. Molly Moran 105 59 2000
2. Madelyn Cole 118 51 2018
3. Molly Moran 94 47 2001
4. Melissa Weisensee 107 45 1995
Amanda Cvejdlik 116 45 2006
6. Nayka Benitez 115 43 2009
7. Madelyn Cole 107 42 2019
8. Keeley Davis 90 40 2021
9. Allie Oelke 107 39 2007
Nayka Benitez 118 39 2010
Megan Ballenger 109 39 2016
Service Aces Per Set (Min. 20 SA)
Name Sets No. Avg. Year
1. Molly Moran 105 59 0.562 2000
2. Molly Moran 94 47 0.500 2001
3. Keeley Davis 90 40 0.444 2021
4. Madelyn Cole 118 51 0.432 2018
5. Melissa Weisensee 107 45 0.421 1995
6. Melissa Weisensee 86 35 0.407 1994
7. Madelyn Cole 107 42 0.393 2019
8. Amanda Cvejdlik 116 45 0.3879 2006
9. Erica Kostelac 80 31 0.3878 2019
10. Abby Bottomley 89 34 0.3820 2021
11. Nayka Benitez 115 43 0.3739 2009
Sis Earns Third Straight Freshman Honor
Creighton's Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the third straight week, and fourth time overall, on Oct. 25th.
The Bluejay outside hitter hit .320 and averaged 3.17 kills, 2.83 digs, 1.50 blocks and 0.17 aces in a pair of 3-0 victories over Georgetown and Villanova.
Sis picked up her fourth consecutive double-double vs. Georgetown when she collected 10 kills and 10 digs on .269 hitting. She also tied a season-high with five blocks.
The Papillion product finished off the week with nine kills, seven digs, four blocks and an ace on .375 hitting vs. Villanova as the Bluejays picked up their 20th win of the fall.
Sis has previously been honored by the league on Sept. 6, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 and is the third player in Creighton history to win three straight league Freshman of the Week accolades. Joining her in that elite category are teammates Kendra Wait (3 straight in 2021) and Keeley Davis (7 straight in 2019).
BIG EAST Up To Sixth
After ranking as the 11th-best conference in 2019, the BIG EAST is up to the No. 6 league this fall.
One reason for the rapid rise is the enormous improvement by four teams, as well as the return of UConn to the league.
Here's each league school with their 2019 year-end RPI, as well as their RPI entering this week
If you were to go back even further, since 2018 all but two BIG EAST schools have improved their RPI from the end of 2018 to now.
Name 2019 RPI 2021 RPI Change
Creighton 23 13 +10
Marquette 16 14 +2
St. John's 64 89 -25
DePaul 182 61 121
UConn 200 (in AAC) 60 140
Villanova 60 124 -64
Xavier 180 173 7
Seton Hall 287 197 90
Butler 159 169 -10
Providence 298 217 81
Georgetown 224 270 -46
League Rank 11th 6th
20 Wins, Again
Creighton is 24-3 this year, with the Oct. 24 win vs. Villanova marking the 12th time in the program's modern history the Bluejays have won 20 matches or more.
It's also the ninth time in the past 10 seasons that CU has reached that milestone. The only exception came during the 2020 season, when a limited schedule greatly affected by COVID-19 limited the Jays to 16 total matches.
Prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival at Creighton, the Bluejays had never won more than 16 times in any season since the program's 1994 reinstatement.
What's Your 20?
Creighton is off to a 24-3 start this season. Those 24 victories surpass the win total from all of last season's abbreviated campaign, when the Bluejays finished 12-4 overall. Creighton's 24 wins rank tied for the most nationally this season with Western Kentucky (24-1) and Ball State (24-3).
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.
Best Starts After 27 Matches
Creighton's 24-3 start equals the program's best mark after 27 matches in history, as the 2012 team also started 24-3 (and eventually 29-3).
This is the fourth time that Creighton has started 21-4 or better through 27 matches. Each of the first three clubs to do it not only reached the NCAA Tournament, but advanced to the Second Round.
Best Starts After 27 Matches, Creighton History
W-L Year Final W-L (NCAA's)
24-3 2012 29-4 (NCAA Round 2)
24-3 2021 TBD
21-4 2019 25-6 (NCAA Round 2)
21-4 2018 29-5 (NCAA Round 2)
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 32-4 in her career when she has seven or more kills,
On The Run
Creighton has a ton of weapons behind the serving line, and has had 56 different serving runs of five or longer this season.
Here's who's authored those serving runs:
Abby Bottomley 15
Keeley Davis 13
Jaela Zimmerman 8
Norah Sis 7
Megan Skovsende 4
Kendra Wait 4
Ellie Bolton 3
Naomi Hickman 1
Emily Bressman 1
Davis Trending Up
Keeley Davis started the season playing mostly as a defensive specialist, but lately she's become the front row weapon that we got accustomed to seeing when she was an All-BIG EAST and All-Region selection in 2019 and 2020.
Davis had just 12 kills in CU's first seven matches before she had 27 kills in three contests at the Bluejay Invitational on Sept. 10-11.
During Creighton's last 11 matches, Davis has 93 kills (2.45 kps.) in the process during those 38 sets. She's also added 0.58 aces and 2.00 digs per set in that span.
Her 10-0 serving run early in the first set changed the momentum of the Oct. 10 win vs. Marquette. She then did it again on Oct. 17 at UConn when she served up a 12-0 run near the beginning of the first set. It was the third time in five weeks she's had a serving run of 10 or longer (also 13-0 vs. Wyoming).
Fight Friars With Fire
Creighton won its first 19 sets ever played against Providence, dropped a set in 2017, and has since won the next 20 sets in a row against Providence.
Creighton owns seven streaks of 19 or more consecutive sets wins over one program in history, as seen below. Three of those streaks are active.
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
35 Seton Hall 2015-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
20 Providence 2017-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
Booth Earns 400th Win at CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth enters this weekend with a 407-179 record on the Creighton sideline, reaching the 400-win milestone on Oct. 10 with a win over Marquette. Booth has beaten 91 different schools while at Creighton.
Coaching alongside Booth for each of those wins is assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens, who is also in her 19th year at CU.
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
400-178 Marquette 10/10/21
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 407 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (as of 11/9/21)
Brent Vigness, Softball 804*
Ed Servais, Baseball 587*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 478*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 407*
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
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 had 22 kills on Oct. 10 vs. Marquette and 23 at UConn on Oct. 16.
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.
Sis, Jaali Winters and Melissa Walsh are the only Bluejay freshmen with four or more matches of 20+ digs.
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
4 Norah Sis (23) 4 2021
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 12 1994
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 equals Jaali Winters for second-fastest in program history to that milestone, trailing only JoDe Cieloha (8 in 1994).
Sis got to 200 career kills on Oct. 8 vs. DePaul in her 18th match, tied for third-fastest in program history, and reached 300 kills in her 25th match, which is third-fastest.
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
Norah Sis 18 10/08/21 DePaul
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 21 10/16/15 at Butler
Melissa Walsh 23 11/08/98 at UMKC
Norah Sis 25 10/30/21 at DePaul
JoDe Cieloha 26 09/02/95 vs. Green Bay
Allie Oelke 27 11/09/07 at Missouri State
Keeley Davis 27 11/22/19 #9 Marquette
Sis Honored Yet Again
Creighton Volleyball's Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the third straight week, and fourth time overall, on October 25th.
The Bluejay outside hitter hit .320 and averaged 3.17 kills, 2.83 digs, 1.50 blocks and 0.17 aces in a pair of one-sided 3-0 victories last week over Georgetown and Villanova.
Sis picked up her fourth consecutive double-double on Friday vs. Georgetown when she collected 10 kills and 10 digs on .269 hitting. She also tied a season-high with five blocks.
The Papillion product finished off the week with nine kills, seven digs, four blocks and an ace on .375 hitting vs. Villanova as the Bluejays picked up their 20th win of the fall.
Sis has previously been honored by the league on Sept. 6, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 and is the third player in Creighton history to win three straight league Freshman of the Week accolades. Joining her in that elite category are teammates Kendra Wait (3 straight in 2021) and Keeley Davis (7 straight in 2019).
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 11th all-time in NCAA history with her 2,608 career digs, trailing only Valparaiso's Rylee Cookerly's 2,977 among active players.
Bottomley has become the first BIG EAST player ever to reach 2,500 career digs or more, and it wouldn't be a shocker to see her climb into the top-10 all-time this weekend.
Rk Player, Team Years Digs
1. Lara Newberry, Chatanooga 2005-08 3,176
2. Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso 2017-Pr. 2,965
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. Abby Bottomley, HPU/CU 2017-Pr. 2,608
12. Kasey Elswick, UT Martin 2009-12 2,606
Defense Wins Championships
Creighton's defense has risen to the occasion time-and-time again this season. The Bluejays have limited opponents to .129 hitting and just 11.08 kills per set. The marks would be the lowest and third-lowest figures ever, respectfully, by a Bluejay opponent over the course of a season.
Creighton has allowed just three opponents (Marquette,.252; USC, .247; St. John's, .231) to hit .200 or better this season and held 12 foes under .100.
Creighton ranks fourth nationally in opponents hitting percentage, fifth nationally in digs per set and seventh nationally in blocks per set. Creighton is the only school ranked in the top 10 of all three categories.
Spearheading the defense from the back row is Abby Bottomley, who ranks 22nd in the country in digs per set.
Add it all up and that defense is a major reason that Creighton ranks tied for first nationally with 24 victories this fall.
Top 50 Jays
Speaking of national rankings, here's a complete list of the many categories where Creighton ranks among the top 50 nationally.
Set Victories 1st Team
Match Victories 1st Team
Opponent Hitting Percentage 4th Team
Digs Per Set 5th Team
Total Blocks 6th Team
Winning Percentage 7th Team
Blocks Per Set 7th Team
Attacks Per Set 8th Team
Kills Per Set 10th Team
Total Home Attendance 12th Team
Average Home Attendance 13th Team
NCAA RPI 13th Team
Team Digs 15th Team
Assists Per Set 20th Team
Digs Per Set 22nd Abby Bottomley
AVCA Poll 23rd Team
Service Aces 26th Keeley Davis
Total Assists 28th Kendra Wait
Total Digs 31st Abby Bottomley
Aces Per Set 34th Keeley Davis
Assists Per Set 38th Kendra Wait
Total Kills 41st Team
Total Blocks 46th Naomi Hickman
Team Assists 48th Team
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 3.82 .217 0.23 3.21 0.61
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 23-5 overall and 17-2 under Booth, with 11 straight wins.
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 78-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (71-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 62-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 56-1 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 fifth-year senior Naomi Hickman is 41-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 123-of-146 sets played.
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 70-7 in October and 64-7 in the month of November.
Narrowing that to the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is a combined 105-9 in the months of October (57-5) and November (48-4).
Creighton has won 35 straight home matches played in the month of October, a streak that is more than 10 years old since losing to No. 12 Northern Iowa on Oct. 15, 2011.
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
Wait Among The Elite Freshmen
Freshman setter Kendra Wait is one of three freshmen to be a starting setter for a top-25 team, joining Kami Miner (Stanford) and Emma Grome (Kentucky).
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 146 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 26 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (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 17-1 - 17-1
Connecticut 0-1 1-0 1-1
DePaul 18-0 - 18-0
Georgetown 15-0 - 15-0
Marquette 15-3 4-1 19-4
Providence 13-0 - 13-0
Seton Hall 12-3 2-0 14-3
St. John's 13-2 0-1 13-3
Villanova 12-3 3-0 15-3
Xavier 18-0 3-0 21-0
Total 133-13 13-2 146-15
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 four events, winning 36-of-39 sets played.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball was 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 ??? ???
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.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 138-34 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 63 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 231-28 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but one of its past 78 home matches over unranked teams and all but seven of its last 87 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. 23 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
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.
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)
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 third-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:
Creighton's 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
Creighton's 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
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 reached 300 digs at CU in her 18th career match and 400 digs in her 25th contest.
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
Abby Bottomley 18 10/08/21 DePaul
Julianne Mandolfo 19 10/16/10 at Drake
Creighton's Quickest Players To 400 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 20 10/13/07 Missouri State
Kate Elman 22 10/26/12 Evansville
Julianne Mandolfo 24 11/05/10 at Wichita State
Nayka Benitez 25 11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis
Abby Bottomley 25 10/30/21 at DePaul
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.
Double-Double x 4
Creighton has had four players finish with a double-double in the same match three times this season, having done it vs. Illinois (Sept. 11), Marquette (Oct. 10) and at UConn (Oct. 16).
When CU did it in September, it marked the first time since Feb. 5, 2021 that Creighton had four players with a double-double in the same match.
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.
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 407 Division I wins rank 54th-most among active coaches, and the most among coaches who have spent 19 years or less at the Division I level.
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.
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 431 block assists, fourth with 465 total blocks and ninth with 1.02 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 457 431 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. Naomi Hickman 457 34 431 465 2017-Pr.
5. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04
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 457 465 1.02 2017-Pr.
10. Megan Waldren 87 81 0.93 1994
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
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.
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 165-39, 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).
Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eighth 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 407-3 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 110-1 against BIG EAST teams (100-1 in the regular-season and 10-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third set.
Creighton's streak of 104 wins in a row was snapped on Oct. 16 at UConn.
Georgetown is 0-16 this year when losing the third set.
Villanova is 10-0 this year when winning the third set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-33 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-1 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 22 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 1-1 24-3
Total 77-61 500-330
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 338-11 (.968) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 281-5 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 207-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 106-1 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, and 13-102 (.113) under Booth. 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 343-32 (.915) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-146 (.305) under Booth when it drops the first set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 121-3 in its last 124 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 75-2 in its last 77 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-12 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 117-2 in its last 119 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
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
Nov. 12 1 pm CT #23 Creighton at Georgetown (HoyaVision) Washington, D.C. (McDonough Arena)
LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF)
Nov. 13 6 pm CT #23 Creighton at Villanova (FloSports) Villanova, Pa. (Jake Nevin Fieldhouse)
LIVE VIDEO ($) | FLOSPORTS SUBSCRIPTION INFO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF)
This Weekend
No. 23 Creighton (24-3, 12-2 BIG EAST) hit the road for the final time this regular-season with a trip to the East Coast to meet up with Georgetown (6-19, 2-12 BIG EAST) and Villanova (14-12, 6-8 BIG EAST).
The weekend begins with a Friday matinee at McDonough Arena in Washington D.C., when CU faces the Hoyas at 1 p.m. Central.
CU's final road match of the regular-season takes place on Saturday night at 6 p.m. Central when CU returns to Villanova, Pa., to face the Wildcats inside Jake Nevin Fieldhouse.
Broadcast Information
Friday's match at Georgetown will air on HoyaVision. A 24-hour pass to subscribe costs a one-time fee of $6.95 and can be purchased at https://guhoyas.com/watch/purchase.aspx.
Saturday's match at Villanova will air on FloSports, a subscription-based service. More information about discounted subscription rates to all FloSports programming can be found at http://GoCreighton.com/FloSports.
Live Stats Information
Every match this season will have free live stats.
Exact links are on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting No. 23 Creighton
Creighton is 24-3 overall this season, tied for first in the BIG EAST with a 12-2 league mark, but owns two wins over co-leader Marquette. 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 18 sweeps among its 24 victories, including 3-0 victories vs. No. 3 Kentucky, Missouri, Wichita State, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas City and SMU. The Jays also have beaten Marquette (twice), Illinois and Omaha in four sets and USC in five frames. The only losses have come to No. 3 Nebraska, St. John's and UConn.
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.
Norah Sis (3.65 kps., 2.97 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 (10.57 aps., 3.12 dps., 0.85 bps., 1.20 kps., .313%) was named MVP of the Mizzou Invitational and also earned three All-Tournament Team accolades. Wait (5) and Sis (5) have combined to win 10-of-11 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors to date.
A third newcomer, High Point transfer Abby Bottomley, leads CU with 5.06 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 11th in NCAA history with 2,608 career digs.
Senior OH Jaela Zimmerman (3.82 kps., 3.21 dps.) is a six-rotation star and the BIG EAST's only player averaging at least 3.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set. Named the 2020 AVCA East Region Player of the Year, Zimmerman is a two-time All-BIG EAST choice and was named MVP of the Bluegrass Battle, the Bluejay Invitational and Shocker Volleyball Classic.
Creighton averages 14.15 kills, 1.53 aces, 18.32 digs and 2.80 blocks per set while hitting .239 as a team. The Bluejays are holding foes to .129 hitting and 0.85 aces per set.
Scouting Georgetown
Georgetown is 6-19 this season and 2-12 in BIG EAST play. The Hoyas own conference victories against UConn (Oct. 9) and Villanova (Nov. 3).
Mary Grace Goyena (2.61 kps.) and Giselle Williams (2.67 kps.) carry much of the load on offense, with Emma Plutnicki (7.38 aps.) and Lilly Costigan (8.13 aps.) each having their moments at setter.
Jessica Cusi (4.41 dps., 0.32 saps.) leads the Hoyas in digs and service aces and Chanelle Smith (1.10 bps.) and Makayla Serrett (0.97 bps.) are the top blockers.
As a team, Georgetown averages 11.18 kills, 1.41 aces, 15.38 digs and 2.06 blocks per set on .153 hitting.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova is 14-12 on the season and 6-8 in league play. The Wildcats have alternated 2-0 and 0-2 weekends during the past month and fell at Georgetown (3-2) and at UConn (3-0) last weekend.
Riley Homer (3.47 kps.), Kiera Booth (2.40 kps.), Sanaä Barnes (2.07 kps.) and Rose Crist (2.29 kps) lead the Wildcats offensively.
Belle Morgan (9.93 aps.) runs the offense and Averi Salvador (4.15 dps.) also returns after being named the 2020 BIG EAST Libero of the Year.
As a team, Villanova averages 12.38 kills, 1.35 aces, 14.09 digs and 1.56 blocks per set on .212 hitting.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 407-178 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. Georgetown
Creighton is 15-0 all-time against Georgetown, dropping just seven sets in those contests.
In 2015, Creighton lost the first two sets before ultimately saving two match points in a 3-2 road victory. In 2017 Creighton trailed 2-1 in the match before pulling out a 15-13 win in the fifth set after it trailed in the last set by scores of 5-0 and 13-12.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 15-0 against Georgetown and 1-0 against David Heller.
Series History vs. Villanova
Creighton is 15-3 all-time vs. Villanova, including conference tournament wins in 2015, 2017 and 2018. CU is 4-3 in Pennsylvania against the Wildcats, with losses in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 15-3 all-time against Villanova and coach Josh Steinbach.
Recapping Last Weekend
Creighton remained atop the BIG EAST standings with wins over Xavier (3-0) and Butler (3-1) to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Championships. Norah Sis led Creighton with 28 kills and Abby Bottomley picked up 40 digs to pace the defense.
Sis Wins Fifth Freshman of the Week Honor
Norah Sis wan named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this season on Nov. 8.
The Papillion product averaged 4.00 kills, 3.29 digs, 0.43 blocks and 0.14 aces per set on .294 hitting as the Bluejays defeated Xavier (3-0) and Butler (3-1).
Sis led Creighton's offense in both matches with 14 kills. She had nine digs, three blocks and an ace on .423 hitting in the sweep vs. Xavier, then contributed 14 digs in the 3-1 win vs. Butler that clinched a spot in the league tournament. It was Sis' 12th double-double of the fall.
Her 4.00 kills per set for the week were tied for the most in the league last week, and led all players on teams who won at least once.
The five Freshman of the Week honors by Sis ties the amount won by teammate Kendra Wait, as the Bluejay duo have now combined to win 10-of-11 weekly awards this fall.
CU/VU Could Be A Real Track Meet
Villanova right side hitter Sanaä Barnes is a top attacker for the Wildcats and one of the best athletes in the league, but she'd have her hands full with a pair of Bluejay freshmen on the track.
Barnes is a two-time BIG EAST champion and four-time All-American (twice indoors, twice outdoors) in the high jump and owns the Nova record of 1.87 meters (6-foot-11/2) in the event, which she set when she was a finalist at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
Barnes high jumped 5-foot-6 as a high school freshman at the Texas state meet and 5-foot-9 as a high school senior, finishing as runner-up in the state's 6A class each of those years.
By comparison, Creighton freshman Norah Sis won the Nebraska state meet as a freshman and senior in high school by clearing 5-foot-8 both times.
And with all that being said, neither one might be able to match what Bluejay freshman Kendra Wait did in late May at the Kansas state meet, where she won state titles in the 100 meter dash (12.02), long jump (18-5), pole vault (11-0) and shot put (42-2.5) in a span of three hours.
The Creighton 500
Creighton owns a 500-330 record since reinstating volleyball in 1994, reaching the 500-win mark on Nov. 7 with a win vs. Butler.
Since 1994, Creighton have had three head coaches and 135 different women have appeared in a match.
Here's a look at Creighton's record since its 1994 reinstatement at the time of some of the milestone victories:
W-L Opponent Date 1-0 vs. Chattanooga 9/2/94
50-91 vs. Southern Illinois 9/10/99
100-160 at Bradley 10/4/03
150-197 Drake 9/22/06
200-224 Texas Tech 8/28/09
250-263 Wichita State 11/4/11
300-278 Georgetown 11/22/13
350-297 Butler 11/15/15
400-310 Seton Hall 10/22/17
450-320 at Seton Hall 10/5/19
500-330 Butler 11/7/21
Wait For It...
Kendra Wait owns 962 assists this season through 27 matches (91 sets) and stands a solid chance of cracking the 1,000 mark this weekend.
In program history, only five previous women have reached 1,000 career assists in 96 sets or fewer. Only two of those women (Korie Lebeda and Brittany Coleman) did it as true freshmen, as Wait is trying to do.
Wait would be the 10th player in Creighton history to reach 1,000 career assists.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Assists (Career)
Name SP MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 77 23 10/29/05 Missouri St.
Brittany Coleman 86 23 11/01/03 Northern Iowa
Lydia Dimke 88 26 11/06/16 Xavier
Madelyn Cole 93 26 11/03/18 at Seton Hall
Kailey Reyes 97 27 09/04/99 Boise State
Maggie Baumert 103 32 11/29/14 vs. Seton Hall
Megan Bober 106 28 11/20/09 at #21 No. Iowa
Melissa Weisensee 119 35 09/20/95 Wichita State
Michelle Sicner 267 72 10/04/13 at Butler
On A Roll
Creighton has won seven straight matches and can equal a season-best winning streak with a victory on Friday at Georgetown.
Creighton owns 10 win streaks of eight or longer in program history, all of which have come since 2008.
Consecutive Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By
23 Sept. 23-Dec. 9, 2016 at #5 Texas, 3-0
21 Sept. 21 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
17 Sept. 29-Nov. 30, 2012 at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
14 Sept. 19-Nov. 3, 2019 at Villanova, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015 at Villanova, 3-2
11 Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0
11 Oct. 6-Nov. 12, 2017 at Villanova, 3-0
10 Oct. 31-Dec. 5, 2015 vs. #2 USC, 3-1
8 Oct. 25-Nov. 22, 2008 vs. Northern Iowa, 3-2
8 Sept. 10-25, 2021 at St. John's, 3-1
7 Sept. 4-Sept. 17, 2004 Illinois State, 3-0
7 Oct. 17, 2021-Present ? ? ?
On A Roll At Home, Too
Creighton has won each of its last nine home matches, and 15 contests in a row inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
When Creighton returns home on Nov. 19 vs. Seton Hall, the Bluejays will have a chance to earn its seventh win streak of 10 or more consecutive home victories.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
12 Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2015 #4 Kansas, 3-2
12 Sept. 19, 2019 - Jan. 29, 2021 South Dakota, 3-2
10 Sept. 2-Dec. 1, 2017 #12 Michigan State, 3-1
9 Sept. 20, 2014-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0
9 Sept. 10, 2021-Present ? ? ?
8 Sept. 25-Nov. 20, 2010 Northern Illinois, 3-0
Road Kill
Creighton owns a 9-2 record in true road matches. Nationally, the only team with more than nine road wins is top-ranked Louisville (10-0).
Excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Creighton has won nine or more road matches in each of the past six seasons and eight or more road wins in nine campaigns.
Creighton's 15 wins away from home (9 road, 6 neutral) are tied with for the most in the country with High Point and Houston. Both the Panthers and the Cougars are at home this weekend.
Leading Women
Speaking of leading the country, Creighton also shares the national lead with 75 sets won so far this fall. The Bluejays are 75-16 in sets, while Ball State is 75-25.
Hickman Shares Wins Record
Naomi Hickman has played in 111 wins as a Bluejay, as the Sept. 18 win vs. Wichita State made her the ninth player in Creighton Volleyball's modern history to reach the century mark.
Hickman has tied Jaali Winters for the school-record by playing in 111 victories and can take sole possession of the mark with a win this weekend.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
111 Naomi Hickman 2017-Present
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
Welty Heats Up
Annika Welty has traditionally been at her best at the end of the season, and this year is playing out much the same way.
Welty is averaging 2.43 kills and 1.29 blocks per set on .244 hitting this November. Taking out the 2020 season that was held in the spring of 2021, Welty has continually upped her game as the stakes increase.
Annika Welty By Month
KPS PCT. BPS PPS
Aug./Sept. 1.11 .208 .88 1.75
Oct. 1.43 .333 1.05 2.04
Nov./Dec. 1.74 .196 .83 2.20
Total 1.32 .231 .91 1.92
X Marks The Spot
Creighton owns 21 consecutive wins over Xavier, its best streak over any foe ever. CU's 15-match win streak over Georgetown is one victory shy of a spot in the top-five.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
21 Xavier 2013-Present
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
18 DePaul 2013-Present
17 Butler 2013-Present
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
15 Georgetown 2013-Present
Worth Her Wait In Gold
Creighton Volleyball's Kendra Wait was named Freshman of the Week as well as Defensive Player of the Week by the BIG EAST Conference on Monday, Nov. 1.
It's Wait's fifth time being honored as Freshman of the Week, having also been recognized on Aug. 30, Sept. 13, Sept. 20 and Sept. 27. Wait is third Bluejay ever to be a five-time conference Freshman of the Week, joining Keeley Davis (10 times in 2019) and Jaali Winters (six times in 2015). Both Davis and Winters went on to be named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and First Team All-BIG EAST every season of their careers to date. It was the first Defensive Player of the Week recognition for the native of Gardner, Kan.
Wait averaged 9.57 assists, 5.00 digs, 1.57 kills and 1.00 blocks per set on .400 hitting as Creighton moved into a tie for first place in the BIG EAST with road wins at Marquette (3-1) and DePaul (3-0).
Wait opened her week with 40 assists, 21 digs, six kills and two blocks in a 3-1 win at Marquette. Wait's 21 digs were a season-high as she became just the seventh different player in Bluejay 40 assists and 20 digs in a match, and first since former BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke in 2016.
She then had 27 assists, 14 digs, five blocks and five kills on .500 hitting in the sweep at DePaul, her team-high 12th double-double of the fall.
Freshmen On Fire
Even though scouting reports have been adjusted to stop them, freshman Norah Sis has averaged 4.11 kills and 3.00 digs per set on .292 hitting in the last 11 matches and Kendra Wait has averaged 10.58 assists, 3.21 digs, 1.11 kills and 0.71 blocks per set on .250 hitting in the same span.
Here's how their numbers compare to the freshmen seasons of some other prominent Bluejays from the past. Also listed are their statistics and how they compare to the nation's other top freshmen on top-25 teams.
Creighton Freshmen - Top Attackers
Name, Year KPS HIT% SAPS DPS BPS
Jaali Winters, 2015 4.07 .232 .13 2.49 .44
Melissa Walsh, 1998 3.75 .236 .07 2.76 .88
Norah Sis, 2021 3.65 .247 .18 2.97 .56
JoDe Cieloha, 1994 3.39 .233 .29 2.00 .70
Keeley Davis, 2019 3.35 .219 .31 1.37 .41
Allie Oelke, 2007 3.29 .179 .36 3.19 .56
Amanda Cvejdlik, 2005 2.85 .242 .00 .22 .66
Jessica Houts, 2005 2.84 .264 .16 .57 1.27
Kelly Goc, 2004 2.72 .244 .08 .46 .77
Carolyn Decker, 2004 2.70 .188 .36 2.42 .36
Melanie Jereb, 2012 2.47 .236 .13 2.74 .65
Top 25 Freshmen With 200+ Kills in 2021
Name, Year K KPS HIT% DPS BPS
Norah Sis, Creighton 332 3.65 .247 2.97 .56
Charitie Luper, UCLA 221 3.75 .295 2.15 .58
Bianca Bertolino, Ga. Tech 219 2.55 .253 2.85 .48
Julia Orzol, Wisconsin 202 3.21 .201 2.08 .51
Creighton Freshmen - Top Setters
Name, Year APS KPS SAPS DPS BPS
Korie Lebeda, 2005 13.34 .59 .22 2.54 .66
Brittany Coleman, 2003 11.71 .41 .22 2.53 .26
Kendra Wait, 2021 10.57 1.20 .12 3.12 .85
Kailey Reyes, 1998 10.23 .86 .27 3.40 .42
Megan Bober, 2009 9.63 1.17 ..12 1.93 .93
Melissa Weisensee, 1994 8.26 .90 .41 2.71 .26
Top 25 Freshmen With 800+ Assists in 2021
Name, Year A APS KPS DPS BPS
Kendra Wait, Creighton 962 10.57 1.20 3.12 .85
Emma Grome, Kentucky 886 11.36 .26 2.08 .55
Kami Miner, Stanford 870 11.30 .70 2.21 .51
Sis, Boom, Ahhh...
Norah Sis is playing a starring role despite her freshman status, averaging 3.65 kills per set.
In program history, only five freshmen have ever averaged more than three kills per set over the course of a season, as seen below:
Most Kills Per Set, Creighton Freshman
(min. 100 kills)
KPS Name Year
4.07 Jaali Winters 2015
3.75 Melissa Walsh 1998
3.65 Norah Sis 2021
3.39 JoDe Cieloha 1994
3.35 Keeley Davis 2019
3.29 Allie Oelke 2007
Freshmen Not Phased
Bluejay freshmen Kendra Wait and Norah Sis have had double-doubles both times they have faced Marquette this season.
In two matches vs. Marquette this season, Sis has averaged 4.75 kills, 3.38 digs and 0.62 blocks per set on .330 hitting.
In two matches vs. Marquette this season, Wait has averaged 11.75 assists, 4.25 digs, 1.25 kills, 0.50 blocks and 0.38 aces per set on .296 hitting.
Creighton has gone 6-1 in seven matches this fall against teams who have received Top 25 votes in any AVCA poll this season. In those contests, Sis averages 4.15 kills and 3.04 digs per set and hits .253 while Wait averages 10.62 assists, 3.42 digs, 0.77 blocks and 1.31 kills per set on .313 hitting.
Wait (5) and Sis (5) have combined to win 10-of-11 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors this fall.
Aug. 30: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Sept. 6: Norah Sis, Creighton
Sept. 13: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Sept. 20: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Sept. 27: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Oct. 4: Shaliyah Rhoden, Providence
Oct. 11: Norah Sis, Creighton
Oct. 18: Norah Sis, Creighton
Oct. 25: Norah Sis, Creighton
Nov. 1: Kendra Wait, Creighton
Nov. 8: Norah Sis, Creighton
This Is 20/20
Kendra Wait etched her name in the Creighton record books when she had 40 assists and 21 digs at Marquette on Oct. 29.
She is the seventh Bluejay in history to have a match with at least 20 assists and 20 digs, and first to do it since 2016 BIG EAST Player of the Year Lydia Dimke had 41 assists and 20 digs vs. Wichita State.
20 Assists, 20 Digs In A Match
A D Name Opp. Date
40 21 K. Wait at Marquette (4s) 10/29/21
41 20 L. Dimke vs. Wichita State (5s) 08/27/16
44 21 M. Sicner Xavier (4s) 11/29/13
27 20 M. Sicner Illinois State (4s) 09/30/11
71 20 K. Lebeda at Evansville (5s) 11/18/06
62 21 B. Coleman at So. Illinois (4s) 10/29/04
54 22 B. Coleman at Illinois State (4s) 10/18/03
45 20 K. Reyes vs. Evansville (4s) 11/24/00
64 23 K. Reyes at Evansville (5s) 11/04/00
44 23 K. Reyes Bradley (4s) 10/28/00
49 28 K. Reyes at Illinois State (4s) 10/13/00
40 21 K. Reyes Missouri State (4s) 11/06/99
65 24 K. Reyes Illinois State (4s) 09/24/99
55 28 K. Reyes Evansville (5s) 09/11/99
65 22 M. Weisensee at Evansville (5s) 11/08/97
46 21 M. Weisensee Missouri State (4s) 10/31/97
46 38 M. Weisensee Evansville (4s) 10/10/97
40 23 M. Weisensee at Drake (5s) 09/13/97
53 24 M. Weisensee at Indiana St. (5s) 10/18/96
51 21 M. Weisensee at Wichita St. (5s) 09/14/96
47 22 M. Weisensee Bradley (4s) 09/09/94
The Head-to-Head Difference
Creighton and Marquette have dominated the BIG EAST in recent seasons, but CU has owned the overall edge in the standings due largely to the Bluejays' ability to defeat the Golden Eagles on a regular basis.
Since the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is 18-2 in head-to-head meetings against Marquette and owns just eight losses against the rest of the BIG EAST (3 to Villanova, 2 each to St. John's and Seton Hall and 1 to UConn).
Marquette is 2-18 in head-to-head meetings against Creighton and owns 15 losses to the rest of the BIG EAST (4 to Xavier, 3 each to Butler, St. John's and Villanova and 2 to Seton Hall).
Both MU wins vs. Creighton in the past eight seasons have been 3-0 sweeps, while CU owns five 3-0 sweeps, nine 3-1 wins and four 3-2 victories against MU since 2014.
Both of Marquette's last two regular-season BIG EAST home losses have come to Creighton, as the Jays snapped an 11-match streak in 2019 and a 10-match home win streak in league play on Oct. 29. Take out two home losses to Creighton and Marquette hasn't lost a regular-season league match at home since falling to Butler on Oct. 21, 2017.
Creighton's been equally tough at home in league play, where it is 56-1 in regular-season home league matches since November of 2014. 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.
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 straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
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 11/9/21)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (8) 133 13 220 59
Marquette (7) 116 27 204 67
Xavier 84 60 129 124
Butler 79 67 138 118
Villanova (1) 76 70 144 112
St. John's (1) 70 76 153 119
Seton Hall (1) 64 79 124 137
DePaul 36 110 96 151
Georgetown 32 106 82 157
Providence* 21 109 80 146
Connecticut# 15 7 23 14
*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.
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
Service With A Smile
Keeley Davis owns 40 aces this season (second in the BIG EAST) and has been on an absolute tear from the service line since CU's win vs. Nebraska-Omaha on Sept. 11th.
Davis has owned multiple aces in 11 of her last 18 matches, and has 33 aces and 34 service errors in that span.
Her 0.44 aces per set would rank third-most in Creighton single-season history. She's the eighth Bluejay with 40 or more aces in a season.
Service Aces
Name Sets No. Year
1. Molly Moran 105 59 2000
2. Madelyn Cole 118 51 2018
3. Molly Moran 94 47 2001
4. Melissa Weisensee 107 45 1995
Amanda Cvejdlik 116 45 2006
6. Nayka Benitez 115 43 2009
7. Madelyn Cole 107 42 2019
8. Keeley Davis 90 40 2021
9. Allie Oelke 107 39 2007
Nayka Benitez 118 39 2010
Megan Ballenger 109 39 2016
Service Aces Per Set (Min. 20 SA)
Name Sets No. Avg. Year
1. Molly Moran 105 59 0.562 2000
2. Molly Moran 94 47 0.500 2001
3. Keeley Davis 90 40 0.444 2021
4. Madelyn Cole 118 51 0.432 2018
5. Melissa Weisensee 107 45 0.421 1995
6. Melissa Weisensee 86 35 0.407 1994
7. Madelyn Cole 107 42 0.393 2019
8. Amanda Cvejdlik 116 45 0.3879 2006
9. Erica Kostelac 80 31 0.3878 2019
10. Abby Bottomley 89 34 0.3820 2021
11. Nayka Benitez 115 43 0.3739 2009
Sis Earns Third Straight Freshman Honor
Creighton's Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the third straight week, and fourth time overall, on Oct. 25th.
The Bluejay outside hitter hit .320 and averaged 3.17 kills, 2.83 digs, 1.50 blocks and 0.17 aces in a pair of 3-0 victories over Georgetown and Villanova.
Sis picked up her fourth consecutive double-double vs. Georgetown when she collected 10 kills and 10 digs on .269 hitting. She also tied a season-high with five blocks.
The Papillion product finished off the week with nine kills, seven digs, four blocks and an ace on .375 hitting vs. Villanova as the Bluejays picked up their 20th win of the fall.
Sis has previously been honored by the league on Sept. 6, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 and is the third player in Creighton history to win three straight league Freshman of the Week accolades. Joining her in that elite category are teammates Kendra Wait (3 straight in 2021) and Keeley Davis (7 straight in 2019).
BIG EAST Up To Sixth
After ranking as the 11th-best conference in 2019, the BIG EAST is up to the No. 6 league this fall.
One reason for the rapid rise is the enormous improvement by four teams, as well as the return of UConn to the league.
Here's each league school with their 2019 year-end RPI, as well as their RPI entering this week
If you were to go back even further, since 2018 all but two BIG EAST schools have improved their RPI from the end of 2018 to now.
Name 2019 RPI 2021 RPI Change
Creighton 23 13 +10
Marquette 16 14 +2
St. John's 64 89 -25
DePaul 182 61 121
UConn 200 (in AAC) 60 140
Villanova 60 124 -64
Xavier 180 173 7
Seton Hall 287 197 90
Butler 159 169 -10
Providence 298 217 81
Georgetown 224 270 -46
League Rank 11th 6th
20 Wins, Again
Creighton is 24-3 this year, with the Oct. 24 win vs. Villanova marking the 12th time in the program's modern history the Bluejays have won 20 matches or more.
It's also the ninth time in the past 10 seasons that CU has reached that milestone. The only exception came during the 2020 season, when a limited schedule greatly affected by COVID-19 limited the Jays to 16 total matches.
Prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival at Creighton, the Bluejays had never won more than 16 times in any season since the program's 1994 reinstatement.
What's Your 20?
Creighton is off to a 24-3 start this season. Those 24 victories surpass the win total from all of last season's abbreviated campaign, when the Bluejays finished 12-4 overall. Creighton's 24 wins rank tied for the most nationally this season with Western Kentucky (24-1) and Ball State (24-3).
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.
Best Starts After 27 Matches
Creighton's 24-3 start equals the program's best mark after 27 matches in history, as the 2012 team also started 24-3 (and eventually 29-3).
This is the fourth time that Creighton has started 21-4 or better through 27 matches. Each of the first three clubs to do it not only reached the NCAA Tournament, but advanced to the Second Round.
Best Starts After 27 Matches, Creighton History
W-L Year Final W-L (NCAA's)
24-3 2012 29-4 (NCAA Round 2)
24-3 2021 TBD
21-4 2019 25-6 (NCAA Round 2)
21-4 2018 29-5 (NCAA Round 2)
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 32-4 in her career when she has seven or more kills,
On The Run
Creighton has a ton of weapons behind the serving line, and has had 56 different serving runs of five or longer this season.
Here's who's authored those serving runs:
Abby Bottomley 15
Keeley Davis 13
Jaela Zimmerman 8
Norah Sis 7
Megan Skovsende 4
Kendra Wait 4
Ellie Bolton 3
Naomi Hickman 1
Emily Bressman 1
Davis Trending Up
Keeley Davis started the season playing mostly as a defensive specialist, but lately she's become the front row weapon that we got accustomed to seeing when she was an All-BIG EAST and All-Region selection in 2019 and 2020.
Davis had just 12 kills in CU's first seven matches before she had 27 kills in three contests at the Bluejay Invitational on Sept. 10-11.
During Creighton's last 11 matches, Davis has 93 kills (2.45 kps.) in the process during those 38 sets. She's also added 0.58 aces and 2.00 digs per set in that span.
Her 10-0 serving run early in the first set changed the momentum of the Oct. 10 win vs. Marquette. She then did it again on Oct. 17 at UConn when she served up a 12-0 run near the beginning of the first set. It was the third time in five weeks she's had a serving run of 10 or longer (also 13-0 vs. Wyoming).
Fight Friars With Fire
Creighton won its first 19 sets ever played against Providence, dropped a set in 2017, and has since won the next 20 sets in a row against Providence.
Creighton owns seven streaks of 19 or more consecutive sets wins over one program in history, as seen below. Three of those streaks are active.
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
35 Seton Hall 2015-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
20 Providence 2017-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
Booth Earns 400th Win at CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth enters this weekend with a 407-179 record on the Creighton sideline, reaching the 400-win milestone on Oct. 10 with a win over Marquette. Booth has beaten 91 different schools while at Creighton.
Coaching alongside Booth for each of those wins is assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens, who is also in her 19th year at CU.
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
400-178 Marquette 10/10/21
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 407 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (as of 11/9/21)
Brent Vigness, Softball 804*
Ed Servais, Baseball 587*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 478*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 407*
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
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 had 22 kills on Oct. 10 vs. Marquette and 23 at UConn on Oct. 16.
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.
Sis, Jaali Winters and Melissa Walsh are the only Bluejay freshmen with four or more matches of 20+ digs.
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
4 Norah Sis (23) 4 2021
3 JoDe Cieloha (23) 12 1994
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 equals Jaali Winters for second-fastest in program history to that milestone, trailing only JoDe Cieloha (8 in 1994).
Sis got to 200 career kills on Oct. 8 vs. DePaul in her 18th match, tied for third-fastest in program history, and reached 300 kills in her 25th match, which is third-fastest.
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
Norah Sis 18 10/08/21 DePaul
Creighton's Quickest Players To 300 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 21 10/16/15 at Butler
Melissa Walsh 23 11/08/98 at UMKC
Norah Sis 25 10/30/21 at DePaul
JoDe Cieloha 26 09/02/95 vs. Green Bay
Allie Oelke 27 11/09/07 at Missouri State
Keeley Davis 27 11/22/19 #9 Marquette
Sis Honored Yet Again
Creighton Volleyball's Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the third straight week, and fourth time overall, on October 25th.
The Bluejay outside hitter hit .320 and averaged 3.17 kills, 2.83 digs, 1.50 blocks and 0.17 aces in a pair of one-sided 3-0 victories last week over Georgetown and Villanova.
Sis picked up her fourth consecutive double-double on Friday vs. Georgetown when she collected 10 kills and 10 digs on .269 hitting. She also tied a season-high with five blocks.
The Papillion product finished off the week with nine kills, seven digs, four blocks and an ace on .375 hitting vs. Villanova as the Bluejays picked up their 20th win of the fall.
Sis has previously been honored by the league on Sept. 6, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 and is the third player in Creighton history to win three straight league Freshman of the Week accolades. Joining her in that elite category are teammates Kendra Wait (3 straight in 2021) and Keeley Davis (7 straight in 2019).
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 11th all-time in NCAA history with her 2,608 career digs, trailing only Valparaiso's Rylee Cookerly's 2,977 among active players.
Bottomley has become the first BIG EAST player ever to reach 2,500 career digs or more, and it wouldn't be a shocker to see her climb into the top-10 all-time this weekend.
Rk Player, Team Years Digs
1. Lara Newberry, Chatanooga 2005-08 3,176
2. Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso 2017-Pr. 2,965
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. Abby Bottomley, HPU/CU 2017-Pr. 2,608
12. Kasey Elswick, UT Martin 2009-12 2,606
Defense Wins Championships
Creighton's defense has risen to the occasion time-and-time again this season. The Bluejays have limited opponents to .129 hitting and just 11.08 kills per set. The marks would be the lowest and third-lowest figures ever, respectfully, by a Bluejay opponent over the course of a season.
Creighton has allowed just three opponents (Marquette,.252; USC, .247; St. John's, .231) to hit .200 or better this season and held 12 foes under .100.
Creighton ranks fourth nationally in opponents hitting percentage, fifth nationally in digs per set and seventh nationally in blocks per set. Creighton is the only school ranked in the top 10 of all three categories.
Spearheading the defense from the back row is Abby Bottomley, who ranks 22nd in the country in digs per set.
Add it all up and that defense is a major reason that Creighton ranks tied for first nationally with 24 victories this fall.
Top 50 Jays
Speaking of national rankings, here's a complete list of the many categories where Creighton ranks among the top 50 nationally.
Set Victories 1st Team
Match Victories 1st Team
Opponent Hitting Percentage 4th Team
Digs Per Set 5th Team
Total Blocks 6th Team
Winning Percentage 7th Team
Blocks Per Set 7th Team
Attacks Per Set 8th Team
Kills Per Set 10th Team
Total Home Attendance 12th Team
Average Home Attendance 13th Team
NCAA RPI 13th Team
Team Digs 15th Team
Assists Per Set 20th Team
Digs Per Set 22nd Abby Bottomley
AVCA Poll 23rd Team
Service Aces 26th Keeley Davis
Total Assists 28th Kendra Wait
Total Digs 31st Abby Bottomley
Aces Per Set 34th Keeley Davis
Assists Per Set 38th Kendra Wait
Total Kills 41st Team
Total Blocks 46th Naomi Hickman
Team Assists 48th Team
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 3.82 .217 0.23 3.21 0.61
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 23-5 overall and 17-2 under Booth, with 11 straight wins.
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 78-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (71-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 62-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 56-1 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 fifth-year senior Naomi Hickman is 41-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 123-of-146 sets played.
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 70-7 in October and 64-7 in the month of November.
Narrowing that to the start of the 2014 season, Creighton is a combined 105-9 in the months of October (57-5) and November (48-4).
Creighton has won 35 straight home matches played in the month of October, a streak that is more than 10 years old since losing to No. 12 Northern Iowa on Oct. 15, 2011.
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
Wait Among The Elite Freshmen
Freshman setter Kendra Wait is one of three freshmen to be a starting setter for a top-25 team, joining Kami Miner (Stanford) and Emma Grome (Kentucky).
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 146 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 26 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (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 17-1 - 17-1
Connecticut 0-1 1-0 1-1
DePaul 18-0 - 18-0
Georgetown 15-0 - 15-0
Marquette 15-3 4-1 19-4
Providence 13-0 - 13-0
Seton Hall 12-3 2-0 14-3
St. John's 13-2 0-1 13-3
Villanova 12-3 3-0 15-3
Xavier 18-0 3-0 21-0
Total 133-13 13-2 146-15
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 four events, winning 36-of-39 sets played.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball was 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 ??? ???
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.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 138-34 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 63 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 231-28 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but one of its past 78 home matches over unranked teams and all but seven of its last 87 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. 23 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
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.
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)
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 third-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:
Creighton's 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
Creighton's 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
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 reached 300 digs at CU in her 18th career match and 400 digs in her 25th contest.
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
Abby Bottomley 18 10/08/21 DePaul
Julianne Mandolfo 19 10/16/10 at Drake
Creighton's Quickest Players To 400 Digs (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Bianca Rivera 20 10/13/07 Missouri State
Kate Elman 22 10/26/12 Evansville
Julianne Mandolfo 24 11/05/10 at Wichita State
Nayka Benitez 25 11/10/09 #20 Saint Louis
Abby Bottomley 25 10/30/21 at DePaul
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.
Double-Double x 4
Creighton has had four players finish with a double-double in the same match three times this season, having done it vs. Illinois (Sept. 11), Marquette (Oct. 10) and at UConn (Oct. 16).
When CU did it in September, it marked the first time since Feb. 5, 2021 that Creighton had four players with a double-double in the same match.
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.
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 407 Division I wins rank 54th-most among active coaches, and the most among coaches who have spent 19 years or less at the Division I level.
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.
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 431 block assists, fourth with 465 total blocks and ninth with 1.02 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 457 431 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. Naomi Hickman 457 34 431 465 2017-Pr.
5. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04
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 457 465 1.02 2017-Pr.
10. Megan Waldren 87 81 0.93 1994
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
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.
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 165-39, 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).
Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eighth 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 407-3 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 110-1 against BIG EAST teams (100-1 in the regular-season and 10-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third set.
Creighton's streak of 104 wins in a row was snapped on Oct. 16 at UConn.
Georgetown is 0-16 this year when losing the third set.
Villanova is 10-0 this year when winning the third set.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-33 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-1 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 22 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 1-1 24-3
Total 77-61 500-330
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 338-11 (.968) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 281-5 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 207-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 106-1 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, and 13-102 (.113) under Booth. 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 343-32 (.915) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-146 (.305) under Booth when it drops the first set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 121-3 in its last 124 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 75-2 in its last 77 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-12 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 117-2 in its last 119 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
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
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
DS/OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
OH/DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball#12 Creighton Volleyball Highlights at Seton Hall - 11/15/25
Saturday, November 15
Creighton Volleyball at St. John's Highlights - 11/14/25
Saturday, November 15
Creighton VB - Dear Volleyball - Annalea Maeder
Monday, November 10
Creighton VB - Dear Volleyball - Kiara Reinhardt
Monday, November 10
