Volleyball Picked to Win BIG EAST; Bluejay Pair Earn Preseason Honors

OMAHA, Neb. -- The seven-time defending league champion Creighton Volleyball program has been picked to win the BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches. The Bluejays own seven BIG EAST regular-season titles, six conference tournament titles and a 121-8 overall record against league foes since the start of the 2014 campaign.

Bluejay seniors Jaela Zimmerman and Naomi Hickman were both named Preseason All-BIG EAST, with Zimmerman being a unanimous selection. This year marks the ninth straight campaign that multiple Creighton players were recognized, but first time since 2014 that as few as two players were honored. This is the second straight season that Zimmerman has been a preseason All-BIG EAST choice, and the first time for Hickman.

Creighton earned 8-of-11 first place votes, though coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Creighton's 97 points were four more than Marquette, who received 93 points and the remaining three first place votes. St. John's was third with 83 points after winning the East Division of the BIG EAST in the spring, just ahead of Xavier's 68 points that were good for fourth place. Villanova was fifth with 56 points while UConn and DePaul tied for sixth with 48 points. Rounding out the bottom-third of the league were Providence (44), Butler (31), Seton Hall (27) and Georgetown (10).

For the second straight season, the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year is St. John's outside hitter Efrosini Alexakou. Last season Alexakou became the first Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year to also win the league's top individual honor at season's end since 2013.

Hickman was a First Team All-BIG EAST choice last season, when she hit .330 and averaged 1.18 blocks per set in all matches and topped the conference with 1.33 blocks per set and a .363 hitting percentage in league play. A 6-foot-4 middle blocker from Lawrence, Kan., Hickman was named First Team All-East Region and named Most Valuable Player of the BIG EAST Championship.

Zimmerman was a unanimous pick for Preseason all-BIG EAST acclaim for the second straight season after averaging 3.45 kills and 2.71 digs per set. The senior outside hitter is a two-time First Team All-BIG EAST and AVCA All-Region choice, and last season named an Honorable Mention All-American by the AVCA after taking home AVCA East Region Player of the Year plaudits.

The Bluejays return all six starters and 11 letterwinners from a 12-4 team that won the BIG EAST regular-season and conference tournament titles while reaching a ninth straight NCAA Tournament. CU also welcomes the nation's No. 8 recruiting class per Volleyball Magazine, which includes freshmen Eve Magill, Abbey Milner, Norah Sis and Kendra Wait in addition to grad transfer Abby Bottomley, the reigning Big South Player of the Year.

Creighton's preseason prognosis of first place marks the 18th straight season of a top-five prediction in its league, after nine such accolades from the Missouri Valley Conference from 2004-12 before joining the BIG EAST in 2013. In the previous 27 seasons (19 in the MVC, eight in the BIG EAST), Creighton has improved its preseason ranking 12 times, been ranked correctly 10 times, and dropped from preseason expectations just five times. Notably, 16 of Creighton's 18 previous teams under head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth have met or exceeded preseason poll predictions, and the two that didn't dropped just a single slot.

Creighton opens its fall season with exhibition matches on Aug. 14 (Blue/White match) and Aug. 20 (Iowa State) before starting the regular-season on Aug. 27 in Columbia, Mo., vs. UMKC.

Fall 2021 Preseason BIG EAST Volleyball Honors
Preseason BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Year
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John's, Jr., OH

Preseason All-BIG EAST * (listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Melody Davidson, Butler, R-Sr., MB
Caylee Parker, Connecticut, Sr., OH
Naomi Hickman, Creighton, Sr., MB
Jaela Zimmerman, Creighton, Sr., OH ^
Savannah Rennie, Marquette, Gr., MB ^
Taylor Wolf, Marquette, Gr., RS/S ^
Allison Barber, Providence, Gr., S
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Seton Hall, So. OH
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John's, Jr., OH ^
Rachele Rastelli, St. John's, Jr., RS
Averi Salvador, Villanova, Gr., L/DS
Carrigan O'Reilly, Xavier, Jr., S/RS
^ denotes unanimous selection

Fall 2021 Preseason Coaches' Polls
First-place votes in ()

1. Creighton (8)	97
2. Marquette (3)	93
3. St. John's	83
4. Xavier	68
5. Villanova	56
T6. Connecticut	48
T6. DePaul	48
8. Providence	44
9. Butler	31
10. Seton Hall	27
11. Georgetown	10

Volleyball Picked to Win BIG EAST; Bluejay Pair Earn Preseason Honors

Players Mentioned

Abby Bottomley

Naomi Hickman

Eve Magill

Abbey Milner

Norah Sis

Kendra Wait

Jaela Zimmerman

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