#19 Volleyball Opens Busy Home Week With #3 Nebraska

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This Week
Sept. 8   6:30 pm   #3 Nebraska at #19 Creighton (FS1)   Omaha, Neb. (CHI Health Center Omaha)
LIVE STATS | VIDEO

Bluejay Invitational
Sept. 10   10:30 am   Illinois vs. Nebraska-Omaha (FloSports)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE STATS | FLOSPORTS VIDEO INFO

Sept. 10   12:30 pm   SMU at #19 Creighton (FloSports)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE STATS | FLOSPORTS VIDEO INFO

Sept. 10   7:00 pm   SMU vs. Illinois (FloSports)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE STATS | FLOSPORTS VIDEO INFO

Sept. 11   10:30 am   Illinois at #19 Creighton (FloSports)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE STATS | FLOSPORTS VIDEO INFO

Sept. 11   12:30 pm   Nebraska-Omaha vs. SMU (FloSports)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE STATS | FLOSPORTS VIDEO INFO

Sept. 11   7:30 pm   Nebraska-Omaha at #19 Creighton (FloSports)   Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)
LIVE STATS | FLOSPORTS VIDEO INFO

This Weekend
No. 19 Creighton (6-0) has a busy week ahead as it hosts seven matches, including the 16th rendition of the Bluejay Invitational.
   The action starts on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at when CU hosts No. 3 Nebraska (5-0) at 6:30 p.m. That match will be hosted at CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
   The Bluejay Invitational features three matches on Friday, Sept. 10, followed by three more on Saturday, Sept. 11, with all six contests taking place at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center on the Creighton campus in Omaha, Neb.
   Illinois (3-2) faces Nebraska-Omaha (2-3) at 10:30 a.m. to open the tournament, followed two hours later when Creighton hosts SMU (2-3) at 12:30 p.m. On Friday night at 7:00 p.m., no admission will be charged when SMU faces Illinois.
   Traditional powers Illinois and Creighton tangle on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m., while at 12:30 p.m. Nebraska-Omaha squares off against SMU. The tournament concludes on Saturday night when crosstown foes Nebraska-Omaha and Creighton square off at 7:30 p.m.

Broadcast Information
Wednesday's match vs. Nebraska will be televised nationally on FS1, with Bob Brainerd and Jill Dorsey calling the action. It will also be webcast at http://FoxSports.com/live.
   All six matches of the Bluejay Invitational will be streamed on FloSports, which requires a subscription. Details on how to create an account at a significant discount and links to a schedule of all the matches are explained in great detail at http://GoCreighton.com/flosports.
   It is expected that only Creighton's matches during the Bluejay Invitational will feature announcers. Donny Baarns will handle play-by-play of each contest. Kate Elman joins him for the matches vs. SMU and Nebraska-Omaha, while Shannon Smolinski accompanies him for the match vs. Illinois.

Live Stats Information
Every match this week will have free live stats at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com. Links will also be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.

Mask Policies
Creighton is requiring face coverings to be worn in all indoor spaces at its home athletic venues during athletic competitions during the month of September, which includes the Wednesday contest vs. Nebraska as well as this weekend's Bluejay Invitational.

Scouting No. 19 Creighton
Ranked 19th nationally, Creighton is off to its best start in program history (6-0) after 3-0 sweeps of Kansas City, Saint Louis, Missouri, No. 3 Kentucky and Northern Iowa in addition to a 3-2 win vs. USC.
   After invading a pair of SEC cities to win tournament titles at the Mizzou Invitational and the Bluegrass Battle, Creighton finally returns home this week to host four matches in its only weekend in Omaha between August 27-October 2.
   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.
   Outside hitter Norah Sis (3.65 kps., 2.55 dps., .283%) leads Creighton in kills and has become the first freshman in school history to be named All-Tournament after each of the first two events of her career. Classmate Kendra Wait (11.10 aps., 2.80 dps., 0.70 bps., 1.25 kps., .375%) was named MVP of the Mizzou Invitational. A third newcomer, High Point transfer Abby Bottomley, leads CU with 4.25 digs per set and 0.35 aces per set. She earned All-Tournament Team honors last weekend in Lexington.
   Leading the Bluejay returnees are Preseason All-BIG EAST selections Jaela Zimmerman (3.50 kps., 2.85 dps.) and Naomi Hickman (1.85 kps., 1.10 bps., .346%), while Keeley Davis (2.45 dps.) was also an All-BIG EAST choice each of the past two seasons. Zimmerman was named MVP of the Bluegrass Battle.
   Creighton averages 14.85 kills, 1.30 aces, 16.10 digs and 2.28 blocks per set while hitting .288 as a team.

Scouting No. 3 Nebraska
Nebraska is 5-0 and ranked No. 3 nationally after home wins vs. Colgate (3-0), Kansas State (3-1), Nebraska-Omaha (3-2), Georgia (3-1) and Arizona State (3-0) the previous two weekends.
   Senior All-American Lexi Sun (2.84 kps.) leads the Cornhuskers in kills, with Madi Kubik (2.78 kps.) and Kayla Caffey (2.54 kps., .500%, 1.33 bps.) not far behind.
   All-American setter Nicklin Hames (9.75 aps., 2.83 dps.) returned last weekend to direct the NU offense, and Lexi Rodriguez (4.32 dps.) patrols the libero position.
   As a team, Nebraska averages 12.68 kills, 1.00 aces, 14.68 digs and 2.95 blocks per set while hitting .244.

Scouting SMU
SMU opened the season with 3-0 wins vs. Pacific and Stephen F. Austin, but have since suffered losses to North Carolina (3-1), No. 13 Oregon (3-0) and Rice (3-1).
   Hannah Jacobs (3.82 kps., .267%) leads the Mustangs in kills, and Jadyn Bauss (2.80 kps.) isn't too far behind.
   Omaha native Lily Heim (9.71 aps.) directs the offense, and Bria' Merchant (3.44 dps.) tops the club defensively.
   SMU averages 12.65 kills, 1.18 aces, 15.47 digs and 2.09 blocks per set while hitting .201 as a team.

Scouting Illinois
Illinois opened the season with wins over UCSB (3-2), Milwaukee (3-0) and Valparaiso (3-0) before suffering rare back-to-back home losses at Huff Hall to No. 11 Washington (3-1) and Colorado (3-2) last weekend.
   Raina Terry (3.00 kps., 0.65 saps.), Kennedy Collins (2.85 kps.), Megan Cooney (2.70 kps., 0.40 saps.) and Jessica Nunge (2.45 kps., 0.35 saps.) make a formidable foursome of offense for setter Diana Brown (10.20 aps., 0.35 saps.).
   Taylor Kuper (3.75 dps., 0.55 saps.) leads the team in digs and Kyla Swanson (1.12 bps.) owns a team-best 19 blocks.
   The Illini average 13.05 kills, 2.60 aces, 13.45 digs and 2.30 blocks per set while hitting .170.

Scouting Nebraska-Omaha
Nebraska-Omaha is 2-3 this fall, including wins vs. Drake and Georgia. The Mavericks nearly stunned the volleyball world last Friday when they took a 2-1 lead at then-No. 4 Nebraska before falling in five sets.
   Sadie Limback (3.30 kps.) leads UNO in kills and has hit .303 thus far and Rachel Fairbanks (2.90 kps.) provides another dangerous weapon.
   Lakyn Graves (1.30 bps.) is a force at the net and Claire Mountjoy (5.10 dps.) handles the libero spot.
   Sami Clarkson (10.45 aps.) sets a team that hits .171 and averages 11.80 kills, 14.80 digs, 2.33 blocks and 1.20 aces per set.

Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 389-175 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. Nebraska
Since restarting its volleyball program in 1994, Creighton is 0-17 all-time against Nebraska in the fall. Eleven of those 17 meetings have come in Lincoln.
   Nebraska has been ranked in the top-11 of every meeting, and ranked No. 1 nationally at match time on six occasions.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-13 all-time against the Huskers, and 0-13 against John Cook. Cook is 16-0 against Creighton.
   Creighton owned a 2-0 lead the last time it faced the Cornhuskers in Omaha (2018), and also won the first set in meetings in 2006, 2014 and 2016. The teams did not play last season, nor in 2017.
   Creighton did defeat Nebraska on April 12, 2013 (25-17, 22-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-13) in a spring contest that was the final scheduled match at the NU Coliseum. Leah McNary had 15 kills to pace CU, while Katie Neisler had 13 kills in 48 swings to lead CU.

Series History vs. SMU
Creighton is 1-0 all-time against SMU, sweeping the Mustangs (27-25, 26-24, 25-21) on Sept. 1, 2018 to win the SMU DoubleTree Classic.
   In that contest, Tourney MVP Megan Ballenger had 16 points on .609 hitting and added a team-best four blocks. SMU was led by 17 kills by Brittany Adams, who also added 10 digs.
   Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 1-0 agaisnt SMU and 1-0 against Lisa Seifert.

Series History vs. Illinois
Illinois owns a 5-0 record all-time against Creighton, including a 2-0 mark in Omaha. All five meetings have occurred since 2007, with the last meeting coming being a top-10 battle on Sept. 15, 2018, when No. 8 Illinois beat No. 10 Creighton in four sets (19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-23) in Champaign.
   The Illini handed Creighton its first loss inside D.J. Sokol Arena on Aug. 29, 2009 to win the Bluejay Invitational.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-5 against Illinois, and 0-1 against Chris Tamas.

Series History vs. Nebraska-Omaha
Creighton is 2-0 at the Division I level against Nebraska-Omaha, though the teams have played each other regularly in the spring in recent seasons.
   The first meeting came on Sept. 13, 2019 at D.J. Sokol Arena and was won by Creighton (25-15, 25-15, 25-22). Erica Kostelac led CU with 10 kills and Brittany Witt added 10 digs, while UNO was paced by nine kills from Claire Leonard.
   Creighton opened last season with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-22 sweep over the Mavericks, as Jaela Zimmerman had 11 kills and 12 digs. McKenna Ruch had 13 kills and 12 digs in her UNO debut.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-0 against the Mavericks and 2-0 against Matt Buttermore.

Best Start Ever
Creighton has started 6-0 for the first time ever, eclipsing the start by the 2006 team that opened 5-0.
   Of Creighton's first five teams to start 4-0 or better, the first loss for four of those teams came during a home contest and on three occasions, it came against a ranked foe.
Most Wins Before First Loss, CU History
   Wins   Season   Lost to
   6   2021   TBD
   5   2006   Iowa
   4   2000   at #6 Hawai'i
   4   2012   #21 Kansas State
   4   2013   California
   4   2017   #18 USC

Largest Crowds To See The Jays
A crowd of around 10,000 fans is expected for Wednesday's tilt at CHI Health Center Omaha. It would mark the sixth time in Creighton's history that more than 5,000 fans attended a home volleyball match.
   In five previous volleyball matches at CHI Health Center Omaha, Creighton has played before an average of 11,476 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.
   The largest crowd in the nation this season was 8,318 last Friday when Nebraska hosted Nebraska-Omaha.
   Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history:
Largest Home Crowds
   Att.   Opponent   Date   CU W-L   Facility
   14,022   #6 Nebraska   09/06/18   L 2-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   13,081   #18 Cal Poly   09/02/07   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   12,112   #1 Nebraska   09/24/06   L 1-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   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
   2,509   #22 Washington   12/01/18   L 0-3   Sokol Arena

Largest Crowds (All Sites)
   Att.   Opponent   Date   CU Result   Facility
   14,022   #6 Nebraska   09/06/18   L 2-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   13,081   #18 Cal Poly   09/02/07   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   12,112   #1 Nebraska   09/24/06   L 1-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   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.
   8,060   at #9 Nebraska   09/17/14   L 1-3   Devaney Ctr.

Historically Speaking
Here's a look at the top volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Of note, each of the 11 figures of 11,000 or more have been in the state of Nebraska.
Largest Regular-Season NCAA VB-Only 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
   11,076   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

Previously At CHI Health Center Omaha
Wednesday will mark Creighton's sixth volleyball match ever at CHI Health Center Omaha, with all six contests coming against top-20 foes.
   In 2006, Creighton won the first set 30-27 and led the second set 23-22 in a match vs. No. 1 Nebraska before 12,112 fans, eventually losing in four sets.
   In 2007, Creighton was swept by No. 18 Cal Poly before a then-record 13,081 fans. Trailing 1-0 in the match, Creighton led 27-22 in the second set before the fading late and losing 30-28.
   In 2008, Creighton was swept by No. 2 Nebraska before 8,037 fans.
   On September 15, 2015 it was No. 4 Nebraska sweeping Creighton by scores of 25-17, 25-19, 25-22 in front of 10,131 fans.
   Most recently in 2018, No. 14 Creighton bolted to a 2-0 lead vs. No. 6 Nebraska before the Huskers rallied to win in five sets in front of the largest (14,022) regular-season volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history.

Connections To Lincoln/Nebraska
Two members of Creighton's staff have ties to Lincoln or the University of Nebraska.
   Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth went to high school in Lincoln and is a member of the Lincoln East High School Hall of Fame.
   Creighton assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens was a four-year starter for the Huskers from 1997-2000, including Nebraska's unbeaten NCAA champion team in 2000 that was coached by John Cook. Among her teammates was Lindsay (Wischmeier) Peterson, NU's current Director of Operations.
   Nebraska senior Lauren Stivrins is the daughter of former Creighton men's basketball player Alex Stivrins. Stivrins competed for the Bluejays from 1980-82, contributing 408 points and 309 rebounds in 55 games and later played in the NBA.
   Creighton senior Jaela Zimmerman hails from Lincoln and was named Nebraska's 2017 Gatorade State Player of the Year at Malcolm High School. While at Malcolm, she was a teammate of former Husker Hayley Densberger.
   Creighton sophomore Megan Skovsende was a high school teammate of Nebraska's Lindsay Krause for three years at Skutt Catholic. Krause was also listed by Bluejay freshman Norah Sis in a preseason questionnaire as her best friend on another college volleyball team.

Other Connections This Week
Creighton junior Emily Bressman was a high school teammate at Marian High School of SMU senior setter Lily Heim.
   Creighton junior Ally Van Eekeren attended the same high school (Benet Academy) as Illinois freshmen Caroline Barnes and Sophie Gregus. She was a teammate of Gregus, but Barnes practiced against boys at the club volleyball level rather than playing in high school.
   Additionally, Van Eekeren's mother, Amy Van Eekeren, played volleyball herself at Illinois.
   Creighton sophomore Megan Skovsende was a teammate at Skutt Catholic High School of Nebraska-Omaha freshman Shayla McCormick.

Another Loaded Field
This weekend's Bluejay Invitational field features one team (No. 19 Creighton) that is listed in this week's AVCA poll.
   Below is a list of each team to enter play while being ranked or having received votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll the week of the Bluejay Invitational. Those previous 24 teams are a collective 45-21 with 11 titles.
   Each of the past eight (and 11 of 15) Bluejay Invitationals have been won by a team that entered the weekend in the top-25 or receiving votes.
Year   (Rank) Team   W-L at Bluejay Invite
2007   (RV) Middle Tennessee   3-0
2008   #16 Minnesota   3-0
2008   #21 LSU   2-1
2008   (RV) Texas A&M   0-3
2009   #10 Illinois   2-0
2012   #21 Kansas State   3-0
2013   #19 Creighton   2-1
2013   (RV) California   3-0
2014   (RV) Creighton   3-0
2015   (RV) Creighton   2-1
2015   (RV) Pacific   3-0
2015   (RV) Lipscomb   0-3
2016   #4 Kansas   2-0
2016   (RV) Creighton   2-1
2016   (RV) TCU   1-1
2017   #7 Creighton   2-1
2017   #13 Kentucky   2-1
2017   #18 USC   1-2
2017   (RV) Northern Iowa   1-2
2018   #14 Creighton   2-0
2018   (RV) Iowa State   1-1
2018   (RV) Wichita State   0-2
2019   #12 Washington   3-0
2019   #17 Creighton   2-1
2021   #19 Creighton   TBD

Bluejay Invitational History
This will be the 16th edition of the Bluejay Invitational, where host Creighton is 26-16 all-time in the event. The Bluejays have never gone winless in the event, and have gone undefeated just twice (2014, 2018). CU boasts three titles, winning the Bluejay Invitational in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
   Champions, by year, include Iowa State (2005), Iowa (2006), Middle Tennessee (2007), Minnesota (2008), Illinois (2009), Kansas (2010), Northern Illinois (2011), Kansas State (2012), California (2013), Creighton (2014), Pacific (2015), Kansas (2016), Creighton (2017) and Creighton (2018) and Washington (2019).
   Between 15 previous Bluejay Invitationals, (2005-19), two Creighton First Serve Festivals (1996-97), four Creighton Classics (2011, 2014, 2015, 2019), one MVC Tournament (2009) and four BIG EAST Tournaments (2013, 2015, 2018, 2020), Creighton has won just seven of the 26 tournaments it has hosted since the program's 1994 restart.
   Those were the 2014 Bluejay Invitational, the 2015 BIG EAST Tournament, the 2017 Bluejay Invitational, the 2018 Bluejay Invitational, the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament, the 2019 Creighton Classic and the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament.

More Bluejay Invitational History
There have been 34 previous schools (besides Creighton) to play in the Bluejay Invitational, including two appearances each by Kansas, Northern Colorado, Iowa State, Wichita State and Lipscomb.
   Creighton's 26 wins are most in Bluejay Invitational history, while Kansas' five wins are second-most.
   Creighton (3 titles) and Kansas (2) are the only schools in history to win the event more than once.
   Creighton is the only program to win consecutive Bluejay Invitational crowns (2017, 2018).
   This will be the first appearance in the Bluejay Invitational for SMU, while Nebraska-Omaha (2019) and Illinois (2009) have been in the event once previously. Illinois won a title in that previous trip, defeating Texas Tech and Creighton.

Longitude Aptitude
Teams located west of Creighton/Omaha are a combined 22-33 all-time with four Bluejay Invitational titles, while teams to the east of Creighton/Omaha are 32-30 with eight titles. Creighton owns the other three titles, and is 26-16 in the event.
   Creighton has won two or more matches in every Bluejay Invitational since going 1-2 in 2011, and has never been winless in the event.
   Of this year's field, Illinois is east of Omaha while SMU and Nebraska-Omaha are located west of Creighton's campus in Omaha.

Home Opener History
Creighton enters Wednesday's match vs. Nebraska with an 18-9 mark in home openers, including a 13-5 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
   Creighton is 10-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena, which will be Friday vs. SMU.

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 products.

Welcome Back, Maggie
One of Nebraska-Omaha's assistant coaches is Maggie McKew. Playing under her maiden name of Maggie Baumert, she was Creighton's setter in 2014 and 2015, helping the Jays to a pair of BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles.
   Baumert was named First Team All-BIG EAST in 2015 and accumulated 1,975 assists, 419 digs, 142 blocks and 148 kills in two years with the Bluejays after transferring in from the University of Georgia.
   She married Crieghton men's basketball staffer John McKew over the summer.

Dear Abby
High Point transfer Abby Bottomley transferred to Creighton this fall and has had 10 or more digs in all six matches this season.
   It's the 13th time ever that a Creighton player has done that, but if she can extend her streak to 10 by week's end, she'd be just the fifth to do so.
   Bottomley enters this week with 85 digs in six matches. Only two Bluejays in program history have reached 100 digs in fewer than eight matches all-time, as seen in the second chart below.
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
   9   Nayka Benitez   2010
   8   Brittany Witt   2019
   7   Erin Swanson   1999
   7   Kate Elman   2014
   6   Jaden Custer   2003
   6#   Julianne Mandolfo   2010
   6   Julianne Mandolfo   2011
   6#   Brittany Witt   2016
   6*#   Abby Bottomley   2021
   5   Melissa Weisensee   1997
*active #streak during first season at CU

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
Nayka Benitez   8   09/12/09   Connecticut
Ellie Bolton   8   03/06/21   DePaul
Melissa Weisensee   10   09/30/94   Missouri State
Kailey Reyes   10   09/27/98   at Western Illinois
Brittany Coleman   10   09/19/03   Southern Illinois
Julianne Mandolfo   10   09/11/10   vs. Central Michigan
Lydia Dimke   10   09/16/16   vs. Gonzaga

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. 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. If Sis has a match with 20+ kills this week, she'll be the first Bluejay to ever have multiple such contests in her first 10 matches.
   Sis is the 11th Bluejay freshman ever to have a match with 20 or more kills, and first since Keeley Davis in 2019.
Creighton Freshmen With 20+ Kills in a Match
   Times   Name (High)   MP Before 1st Time     Year
   9   Jaali Winters (28)   13     2015
   4   Melissa Walsh (30)   15     1998
   3   JoDe Cieloha (23)         12     1994
   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
   1   Norah Sis (20)   4    2021

Speaking of Sis
While we're on the topic of Norah Sis, the freshman owns 73 kills through six matches this season.
   JoDe Cieloha (8 in 1994) is the only player in CU history to reach 100 career kills in her first eight career matches, one contest quicker than Jaali Winters (9 in 2015).
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
Melissa Walsh   10   09/26/98   at Bradley
Carolyn Decker   10   09/18/04   Illinois State
Keeley Davis   10   09/21/19   Wyoming

Zimmerman, Sis, Earn Weekly Honors
Jaela Zimmerman was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and Norah Sis brought home BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades on Monday.
   Zimmerman averaged 4.18 kills, 2.91 digs and 0.45 blocks per set on the weekend to land Bluegrass Battle Tournament MVP honors for the second time in her career (2019 Creighton Classic).
   Sis averaged 3.91 kills and 3.00 digs per set while hitting .291 to earn a spot on the Bluegrass Battle All-Tournament Team and pick up her first BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honor of the young season. Sis became the first freshman in Creighton history to be named to the All-Tournament Team following each of the first two tournaments of her career with the her recognition.

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 389 Division I wins rank 55th-most among active I coaches, but are second-most among coaches who have spent 19 years or less at the Division I level, and three behind Purdue's Dave Shondell.

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.

All-Tourney Trio in Lexington
Three members of the Creighton Volleyball team were selected to the All-Tournament Team at the Bluegrass Battle. Senior Jaela Zimmerman was named MVP and was joined on the All-Tourney squad by senior Abby Bottomley and freshman Norah Sis.
   Zimmerman averaged 4.18 kills, 2.91 digs and 0.45 blocks per set on the weekend to land Tournament MVP honors for the second time in her career (2019 Creighton Classic). She had 16 kills and 16 digs in a five-set win vs. USC on Friday. She had a match-best 18 kills and added 11 digs and an ace on .304 hitting in a 3-0 sweep of third-ranked and defending national champion Kentucky. The Lincoln native capped the weekend with 12 kills, five digs and three blocks on .250 hitting in a sweep vs. Northern Iowa.
   Sis averaged 3.91 kills and 3.00 digs per set while hitting .291. The Papillion product had a season-best 20 kills while hitting .308 in a win vs. USC, adding seven digs. She then had 16 kills and a season-best 17 digs on .341 hitting in a 3-0 sweep of third-ranked Kentucky, the defending national champions. She closed out her weekend with seven kills and nine digs in a 3-0 sweep over Northern Iowa. With Saturday's honor, Sis became the first freshman in program history to be named to the All-Tournament Team following each of the first two events of her career.
   Bottomley stretched her double-figure digs streak to 19 over the weekend, averaging 4.00 digs per set and helping CU limit foes to .183 hitting. She had 17 digs vs. USC before closing the tournament on Saturday with 16 digs at No. 3 Kentucky and 11 more against UNI. Bottomley was aced just twice in 93 serve receptions as the steadying force of the Bluejay back row.

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 153-36, 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).

Against The Top 10
Creighton is 8-32 all-time against top-10 teams, including a 8-25 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. This year's win improved Creighton to 3-0 against top-10 Kentucky teams.
   Here's a list of top-10 victories that Creighton has posted all-time.
Date   Opponent   CU Score
08/26/17   at #3 Washington   W 3-1
09/04/21   at #3 Kentucky   W 3-0
12/02/16   at #4 Kansas   W 3-2
08/24/18   vs. #5 Kentucky (Los Angeles, Calif.)   W 3-2
09/09/17   at #7 Kansas   W 3-0
11/22/19   #9 Marquette   W 3-1
09/05/15   vs. #10 Kentucky (Cedar Falls, Iowa)   W 3-0
10/12/19   at #10 Marquette   W 3-2

Top 25 History
Creighton is 20-80 all-time against teams in the top-25 of the AVCA poll, but 15-14 since the start of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
   Last Saturday's win at No. 3 Kentucky was Creighton's 100th match-up all-time against a top-25 opponent.
   An opening-weekend 2017 win at No. 3 Washington is the highest-ranked team that the Bluejays have ever beaten, and the Sept. 4 win at No. 3 Kentucky matched that. Creighton is actually 2-1 all-time against teams ranked exactly No. 3, which also happens to be Nebraska's rank entering Wednesday.
   Creighton is 8-32 all-time against top-10 foes (8-25 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth).
   Creighton lost its first 31 true road matches against top-25 foes, but has 'improved' to 7-38 after wins in recent seasons at No. 23 North Carolina (2015), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 3 Washington (2017), No. 7 Kansas (2017), No. 18 Marquette (2018) and No. 10 Marquette (2019).
   Creighton is 120-31 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 15-19 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, 34 of Creighton's 60 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 213-25 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but one of its past 69 home matches over unranked teams and all but five of its last 67 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.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 15-19)
Home: 5-6   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
09/04/21   #3 Nebraska at #19 Creighton   6:30 pm

Some Fab Freshmen
Including Kendra Wait and Norah Sis on Aug. 27 vs. Kansas City, Creighton has started 14 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 18 such players since 2000.
   Since 2000, the only true freshmen to start CU's season-opener have been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005), Allie Oelke (2007), Brooke Boggs (2009), Heather Thorson (2009), Julianne Mandolfo (2010), Katie Neisler (2011), Michelle Sicner (2011), Melanie Jereb (2012), Ashley Jansen (2012), Jess Bird (2013), Jaali Winters (2015), Naomi Hickman (2017), Emily Bressman (2019), Kiara Reinhardt (2020), Kendra Wait (2021) and Norah Sis (2021), with Coleman, Lebeda and Wait the only freshmen to start at setter in the season-opener.
   In addition, CU also started redshirt freshmen Lauren Smith (2013) and Brittany Lawrence (2015), as well as transfers Maggie Baumert (2014), Lydia Dimke (2016), Madelyn Cole (2018), Erica Kosetelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
   Eight of those women (Reinhardt, Coleman, Decker, Lebeda, Oelke, Mandolfo, Sicner and Jereb) went on to land a spot on the MVC or BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team (though the BIG EAST had no such team from 2013-19). Winters was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2015, Dimke was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2016 and Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019.
   This year marked the first time that Creighton started multiple true freshmen in a season-opener since 2012, when Ashley Jansen and Melanie Jereb both earning a starting nod.

Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Eve Magill, Abbey Milner, Norah Sis and Kendra Wait was recognized as the nation's No. 5 class last fall by PrepVolleyball.
   Wait was tabbed the nation's No. 7 freshman recruit, making her the program's most-decorated recruit since 2004. Sis, at No. 28, is the program's third-highest recruit (behind Wait and No. 18 in 2015's Taryn Kloth), with No. 31 Eve Magill not far behind.
   In the summer, Volleyball Magazine recognized CU's group of newcomers (which included the four freshmen and Abby Bottomley) as the No. 8 incoming class in the nation.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004)
Rank   Year   Player
68   2004   Carolyn Decker
55   2008   Laurel Sanford
60   2011   Michelle Sicner
73   2013   Jess Bird
50   2014   Lydia Dimke*
18   2015   Taryn Kloth
41   2015   Jaali Winters
77   2016   Erica Kostelac#
98   2017   Naomi Hickman
99   2017   Steph Gaston
49   2018   Jaela Zimmerman
42   2018   Keeley Davis
46   2020   Kiara Reinhardt
97   2020   Ellie Bolton
7   2021   Kendra Wait
28   2021   Norah Sis
31   2021   Eve Magill
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton

PrepVolleyball.com Recruiting Rankings
(list started in 2004)
Year   Rank   Freshman Recruits
2004   Best of the Rest   (Baumann, Decker, Goc, Lahm, Mehal)
2005   Honorable-Mention   (Cvejdlik, Houts, Lebeda)
2006   None   (Bloemke, Schulze, Workman)
2007   None   (Feldman, Oelke, Vrbicky)
2008   Highest Honorable-Mention   (Almgren, Bober, Sanford)
2009   Highest HM   Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010   High HM   (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011   Highest HM   (Browning, McNary, Neisler, Sicner, Stivers)
2012   High Honorable-Mention   (Elman, Jansen, Jereb, L. Smith)
2013   None   (Bird, Crawford, Foje)
2014   Highest Honorable-Mention   (Lawrence, Tupper, Wilkinson)
2015   11th   (Ballenger, Bohnet, Kloth, O'Connell, Winters)
2016   High Honorable-Mention   (Conlon, Taylor, Witt)
2017   25th   (Gaston, Hickman, Roumeliotis)
2018   10th   (Davis, Welty, Zimmerman, Zumach)
2019   Highest HM   (Bressman, Krause, Schmitt, Van Eekeren)
2020   27th   (Bolton, Maser, Reinhardt, Skovsende)
2021   5th   (Magill, Milner, Sis, Wait)

Familiar Face
Senior Naomi Hickman has started Creighton's season opener each of the past five years. She's the 16th player to start four season openers, but the only one to do so five times.
Four or More Opening Day Starts
Name   Years
JoDe Cieloha   1994-97
Melissa Weisensee   1994-97
Shelly Kapler   1996-99
Erin Swanson   1998-01
Kailey Reyes   1998-01
Melissa Walsh   1998-01
Carolyn Decker   2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda   2005-08
Jessica Houts   2006-09
Allie Oelke   2007-10
Heather Thorson   2009-12
Megan Bober   2009-12
Jess Bird   2013-16
Lauren Smith   2013-16
Jaali Winters   2015-18
Naomi Hickman   2017-21

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 28-3 in her career when she has seven or more kills,

Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-15 letterwinners to the court from last season, including all six starters, as well as returning libero Ellie Bolton.
   From last year's team, only Grace Nelson, Mahina Pua'a, Erica Kostelac and Makenna Krause are not back.
   Creighton returns 98.4 percent of its blocks, its most since 2007 (99.3).
   Creighton returns 94.3 percent of its kills, most since 2016 (94.7).
   Creighton returns 93.7 percent of its points, most since 2014 (99.1).
   Creighton returns 86.5 percent of its starts, most since 2014 (98.1).
   Creighton returns 81.7 percent of its digs, most since 2017 (95.0).
   All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 595.5 of a possible 700% back (85.1 percent), which would be its highest since 2014 (99.1).
   Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat   Returners   Departures
Blocks   153 (98.4%)   2.5 (1.6%)
Kills   763 (94.3%)   46 (5.7%)
Points   987.0 (93.7%)   66.5 (6.3%)
Matches Started   83 (86.5%)   13 (13.5%)
Digs   734 (81.7%)   164 (18.3%)
Aces   71 (79.8%)   18 (20.2%)
Assists   462 (61.5%)   289 (38.5%)

Nine Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last nine seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
   The only other sport in Creighton history to make nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
   Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments (2012-20). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.

Setting The Table
Kendra Wait started Creighton's season-opener at setter, the eight different Bluejay to earn that role in the past 10 seasons.
   The Jays started the season with Megan Bober in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. In 2014 Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb, while Kenzie Crawford got the call versus Miami (Ohio) in 2015. Lydia Dimke started the initial contest in both 2016 and 2017, before graduating, while Madelyn Cole started in 2018 and 2019. Last season Mahina Pua'a earned the nod on opening night, while Wait started this season.
   The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of the previous nine seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and eight of them saw Creighton win conference titles.
   Creighton won eight of those 10 season-opening matches.

Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
   On the other hand, Creighton is 389-3 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

Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-32 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 1-0 mark this season That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
   Creighton has won 16 of its last 21 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
   It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
   Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year   Set 5 W-L   Total W-L
1994   0-2   5-20
1995   0-2   11-19
1996   2-6   9-19
1997   3-5   15-13
1998   2-3   7-18
1999   3-3   13-15
2000   3-3   16-12
2001   1-1   14-13
2002   1-3   3-23
2003   5-1   12-18
2004   4-0   18-11
2005   3-1   16-14
2006   4-2   21-10
2007   2-0   21-10
2008   2-3   18-9
2009   1-4   14-17
2010   3-3   21-12
2011   5-2   17-14
2012   4-1   29-4
2013   3-2   23-9
2014   3-2   25-9
2015   5-2   27-9
2016   4-3   29-7
2017   4-1   26-7
2018   3-2   29-5
2019   2-1   25-6
2020   4-2   12-4
2021   1-0   6-0
Total   77-60   482-327

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

Block Around The Clock
Naomi Hickman is in the top-10 of every one of Creighton's career blocking records. She is currently seventh with 354 block assists, ninth with 0.98 blocks per set, and ninth with 381 total blocks.
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.   Megan Bober   480   380   2009-12
   5.   Laurel Sanford   369   376   2008-11
   6.   Marysa Wilkinson   499   374   2014-17
   7.   Naomi Hickman   390   354   2017-Pr.
   8.   Ashley Williams   359   347   2001-04

Total Blocks
       Name   Sets   BS   BA   Tot.   Years
   1.   Jessica Houts   451   73   536   609   2005-09
   2.   Kelli Browning   424   55   547   602   2011-14
   3.   Lauren Smith   511   61   499   560   2013-16
   4.   Ashley Williams   359   100   347   447   2001-04
   5.   JoDe Cieloha   398   106   331   437   1994-97
   6.   Megan Bober   480   42   380   422   2009-12
   7.   Marysa Wilkinson   499   47   374   421   2014-17
   8.   Laurel Sanford   369   43   376   419   2008-11
   9.   Naomi Hickman   390   27   354   381   2017-Pr.
   10.   Megan Ballenger   450   29   343   372   2016-19

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   390   381   0.98   2017-Pr.
   10.   Megan Waldren   87   81   0.93   1994

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 second among the nation's active Division I players with her 2,243 career digs, trailing only Valparaiso's Rylee Cookerly's 2,640.

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 owns four matches (Missouri, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota) scheduled against teams that made the 2020 NCAA Tournament, and they're currently 2-0 vs. that gauntlet.
   After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 88-100 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   2-0
TOTAL   91-135
TOTAL Under Booth   88-100

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
   Last season CU was picked to win the Midwest Division and went 7-1 in league play en route to a seventh straight regular-season title.
   This spring, a preseason poll of BIG EAST coaches tabbed Creighton as the favorite with 8-of-11 first place votes and 97 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 93 points and the other three votes for first place.
   St. John's (83) was picked third, just ahead of Xavier (68) and Villanova (56). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were UConn (48), DePaul (48), Providence (44), Butler (31), Seton Hall (27) and Georgetown (10).
   Creighton also had two women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Naomi Hickman and unanimous selection Jaela Zimmerman.
   Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 16 of 18 years under Booth, including eight years where it's finished exactly where it was picked.
Year   Preseason Pick   Finish   Move
1994   11th   9th   #2
1995   9th   7th   #2
1996   9th   6th   #3
1997   8th   3rd   #5
1998   6th   8th   i2
1999   T-7th   5th   #2
2000   4th   T-4th   - -
2001   2nd   4th   i2
2002   7th   9th   i2
2003   9th   T-5th   #4
2004   5th   5th   - -
2005   5th   5th   - -
2006   4th   4th   - -
2007   3rd   T-2nd   #1
2008   3rd   2nd   #1
2009   4th   T-4th   - -
2010   4th   3rd   #1
2011   3rd   4th   i1
2012   4th   1st   #3
2013   1st   T-2nd   i1
2014   1st   1st   - -
2015   1st   1st   - -
2016   1st   1st   - -
2017   1st   1st   - -
2018   2nd   1st   #1
2019   2nd   1st   #1
2020   1st (MW)   1st (MW)   - -
2021   1st   ???   ???

Home Sweet Home
Creighton enters its ninth season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
   Since then, the Bluejays are 72-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (65-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
   Since November of 2014, Creighton is 56-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 50-1 league mark and a 6-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
   Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2017, Bluejay senior Naomi Hickman is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-126 sets played.

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 9/5/21)
             BIG EAST only   All   matches
Team (NCAA Bids)   W   L   W   L
Creighton (8)   121   11   202   56
Marquette (7)   104   25   189   63
Xavier   78   52   121   114
Butler   71   61   127   108
Villanova (1)   70   62   133   103
St. John's (1)   65   67   141   109
Seton Hall (1)   60   69   115   124
Georgetown   30   94   79   141
DePaul   28   104   84   143
Providence*   18   98   73   135
Connecticut#   4   4   7   10
*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.

2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 321-11 (.967) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 263-5 mark (.981) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 190-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 97-1 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 15-200 (.070) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 15 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date   Opponent   Sets 3-5 scores   Coach
09/19/97   at Bradley   15-11, 15-13, 15-8   Wallace
10/01/99   at Drake   15-6, 17-15, 15-11   Wallace
09/03/04   vs. Montana   30-20, 30-21, 15-11   Booth
10/15/04   at Bradley   30-22, 30-23, 15-11   Booth
10/15/05   at So. Illinois   30-25, 30-24, 15-8   Booth
09/21/07   at No. Iowa   31-29, 30-26, 15-12   Booth
11/16/12   at Wichita St.   25-16, 25-20, 16-14   Booth
09/05/14   vs. No. Iowa   25-16, 25-22, 15-5   Booth
11/08/14   at Butler   25-16, 25-20, 15-13   Booth
09/20/15   Kansas State   25-23, 26-24, 15-13   Booth
10/09/15   DePaul   25-21, 25-12, 15-11   Booth
11/20/15   at Georgetown   30-28, 26-24, 15-7   Booth
10/13/17   Butler   25-21, 25-23, 15-9   Booth
10/18/18   Xavier   25-17, 25-17, 15-13   Booth
01/31/21   at So. Dakota   25-20, 25-23, 15-7   Booth

Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 325-32 (.910) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 64-143 (.300) 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 110-3 in its last 113 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 57-2 in its last 59 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 7-9 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
   Creighton has gone 99-2 in its last 101 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.

Third Set's A Charm
Since an Oct. 10, 2014 loss at Seton Hall, Creighton is a perfect 101-0 against BIG EAST teams (91-0 in the regular-season and 10-0 in league tournament play) when winning the third 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

7 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2020 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win seven straight outright regular-season titles.
   No team had won seven straight regular-season BIG EAST titles (including shares) since Notre Dame won seven in a row from 1999-2005, though the Irish shared the title in 2003 (with Pittsburgh) and 2005 (with Louisville)
   The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win seven or more consecutive league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).

Perfect Ten
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 10 NCAA Tournaments. That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history.
   Booth is the second head coach in Creighton history to lead 10 different NCAA Tournament teams, trailing only former men's soccer coach Bob Warming.
Name   Sport   NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming   Men's Soccer   11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth   Volleyball   10
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7
Elmar Bolowich   Men's Soccer   6
Greg McDermott   Men's Basketball   6

Climbing The List
Kirsten Bernthal Booth became Creighton Volleyball's winningest coach in the program's modern history on August 26, 2007, and hasn't let up.
   Booth owns 389 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history.
Coach, Sport   Victories (as of 9/7/21)
Brent Vigness, Softball   804*
Ed Servais, Baseball   587*
Mary Higgins, Softball   564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis   478*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball   389*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball   356*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis   347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball   327
*still active coaching at Creighton

Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel against elite competition.
   Creighton is 7-9 against ranked non-conference foes over the last four seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year   Non-Con W-L   vs. Ranked Non-Con   Final W-L
2003   3-8   0-0   12-18
2004   8-2   0-1   18-11
2005   6-5   0-3   16-14
2006   8-3   0-1   21-10
2007   6-5   0-3   21-10
2008   3-5   0-3   18-9
2009   3-8   0-3   14-17
2010   5-5   0-1   21-12
2011   5-7   0-1   17-14
2012   9-2   0-1   29-4
2013   9-3   1-2   23-9
2014   7-6   0-5   25-9
2015   6-7   1-4   27-9
2016   6-6   0-4   29-7
2017   7-4   3-3   26-7
2018   8-4   1-3   29-5
2019   7-3   2-3   25-6
2020   3-2   0-0   12-4
2021   6-0 so far   1-0   TBD

Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a winning record against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
   The Bluejays own 134 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 five league foes (Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (2) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent   Reg. Season   BE Tourney   Total
Butler   15-1   -   15-1
Connecticut   0-0   1-0   1-0
DePaul   16-0   -   16-0
Georgetown   14-0   -   14-0
Marquette   13-3   4-1   17-4
Providence   12-0   -   12-0
Seton Hall   11-3   2-0   13-3
St. John's   13-1   0-1   13-2
Villanova   11-3   3-0   14-3
Xavier   16-0   3-0   19-0
Total   121-11   13-2   134-13

Last Season Summary
Creighton won the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles while returning to the NCAA Tournament in a most unusual season. The global COVID-19 pandemic pushed an abbreviated season into the spring, with limited crowds and face coverings required during the regular-season.
   Creighton went 3-1 in non-conference play before opening BIG EAST play by splitting two matches with No. 25 Marquette. The Bluejays won their final six league matches to finish atop the Midwest Division, then defeated UConn and Marquette for their sixth BIG EAST Tournament title in seven seasons.
   The entire NCAA Tournament was held in Omaha, but CU fell in five sets to Ohio Valley Conference champ Morehead State in the First Round.
   Jaela Zimmerman earned East Region Player of the Year honors from the AVCA and joined on the All-Conference Team alongside Keeley Davis and Naomi Hickman. Hickman was named Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament, with Annika Welty and All-Freshman Team honoree Kiara Reinhardt also being named All-Tourney.

#19 Volleyball Opens Busy Home Week With #3 Nebraska

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Players Mentioned

Ellie Bolton

Abby Bottomley

Emily Bressman

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Erica Kostelac

Makenna Krause

Eve Magill

Katie Maser

Abbey Milner

Grace Nelson

Mahina Pua'a

Kiara Reinhardt

Norah Sis

Megan Skovsende

Ally Van Eekeren

Kendra Wait

Annika Welty

Jaela Zimmerman