Friday, October 28
South Orange, N.J.
5:00 PM
Creighton University
at
Seton Hall
#15 Volleyball Returns to East Coast For Seton Hall & St. John's
10/25/2022 9:48:00 AM | Volleyball
Bluejays look to extend 10-match win streak
Match #22: #15 Creighton at Seton Hall • Friday, Oct. 28 • 5:00 p.m. CST • South Orange, N.J.
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | FLO SPORTS INFO | SHU RADIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SHU NOTES |
Match #23: #15 Creighton at St. John's • Sunday, Oct. 30 • 12:00 p.m. CST • Queens, N.Y.
| ESPN3 VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SJU NOTES |
This Week
Eight-time defending BIG EAST regular-season champion and 15th-ranked Creighton (18-3, 10-0 BIG EAST) concludes a stretch of four straight road matches on the East Coast as it begins the second half of league play in earnest.
On Friday, Creighton visits Seton Hall (13-9, 4-6 BIG EAST) in a 5 p.m. CST match at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J.
On Sunday at 12 p.m. CST, the Bluejays meet St. John's (16-7, 7-3 BIG EAST) at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.
Broadcast Information
Friday's match vs. Seton Hall will be available on FloSports. More information about discounted subscriptions to FloSports programming can be found at http://GoCreighton.com/FloSports.
Sunday's contest at St. John's is slated to be broadcast on ESPN3 and can be viewed at http://WatchESPN.com or via the ESPN app.
Live Stats Information
Both matches will have free live stats. The link to each is also on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #15 Creighton
Ranked 15th nationally, Creighton has won 10 straight matches to improve to 18-3 this season. The lone losses have come to then-No. 16 Kentucky (3-1 on Sept. 3), to then-No. 2 Nebraska (3-2 on Sept. 7), and at current No. 21 Rice (3-2 on Sept. 18).
The Bluejays are 10-0 in BIG EAST play, with seven sweeps and three five-set victories.
Creighton owns wins over a boatload of NCAA Tournament regulars, including No. 16 Marquette, No. 25 USC, Iowa State, Kansas State, Florida State, Northern Iowa and Wichita State.
Sophomore OH Norah Sis (4.01 kps., 2.50 dps.) was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year after a standout season that saw her pick up National Freshman of the Year accolades from VolleyballMag.com. She tops the BIG EAST in kills per set and points per set this year.
Senior OH Keeley Davis is averaging 2.55 kills, 3.04 digs and 0.42 aces per set, and senior MB Kiana Schmitt owns 2.23 kills per set on .297 hitting and recently had a career-high 13 block match. She leads all players with 42 blocks in BIG EAST action this fall.
As if that wasn't enough, OH Ava Martin (2.22 kps.) has taken her game to another level in league play, hitting .353 and averaging 2.91 kills per set against BIG EAST competition to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades in three of the past five weeks.
Quarterbacking the Bluejay offense is sophomore S Kendra Wait (10.98 aps., 3.34 dps., .335%), while senior L Allison Whitten leads CU with 4.02 digs per set and owns 2,153 career digs.
Creighton returns four starters from last season's 31-4 squad that reached a 10th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. Having added four freshmen and three graduate transfers in the off-season, CU is favored by league coaches to win a ninth straight title in 2022.
Creighton averages 14.23 kills, 1.52 aces, 17.00 digs and 1.94 blocks per set while hitting .263 as a team.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall is 13-9 this season and 4-6 in BIG EAST play under new head coach Shannon Thompson. The Pirates will be looking to snap a five-match losing streak on Friday when first place Creighton comes to South Orange.
Jenna Walsh leads SHU with 3.31 kills per set, just ahead of Bianca Bucciarelli (2.61 kps.) and Perri Lucas (2.43 kps.). Asli Subasill tops The Hall with 1.05 blocks per set and 0.37 aces per set.
Madison Klungel (4.75 aps.) and Taylor Jakubowski (4.63 aps.) share setting duties and Anna Holland (4.24 dps.) is the Pirates' libero.
Seton Hall averages 12.42 kills, 1.55 aces, 13.87 digs and 1.90 blocks per set and hits .217 as a team.
Scouting St. John's
St. John's is 16-7 this season and third in the BIG EAST standings with a 7-3 league mark. SJU started the season 3-4 but has been on a roll since then, with two of those three subsequent losses coming against nationally-ranked Marquette.
The Red Storm are paced by Rachele Rastelli (3.66 kps,. .256%) and Giorgia Walther (3.74 kps.), with Wiktoria Kowalczyk (10.83 aps.) running the offense.
Bree Martin paces the Red Storm with 31 aces, and 3.19 digs per set.
St. John's averages 13.74 kills, 1.33 aces, 11.6 digs and 2.34 blocks per set on .240 hitting.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 432-182 record in her 20th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to eight straight BIG EAST titles (2014-21), and nine league crowns in the last 10 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 11 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 11 seasons (including 2022), 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, Brian Rosen and Elise Fulcher.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Creighton is 15-3 all-time against Seton Hall, and 6-2 in South Orange. The Bluejays have won 14 straight meetings in the series, including 12 consecutive sweeps. CU outscored The Hall 151-94. in two victories last season.
The Pirates are one of four (joining Marquette, St. John's & Villanova) BIG EAST teams to have beaten Creighton multiple times since the start of the 2014 season, with CU going 14-2 against the Pirates and 135-8 against everyone else in the league.
Series History vs. St. John's
Creighton leads the all-time series with St. John's by a 14-3 margin, including a 7-1 mark in Queens.
After losing the first meeting, Creighton won 13 straight contests vs. St. John's until that streak was snapped in the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament semifinals in Milwaukee. That loss came after CU had won 30-of-31 sets vs. SJU. The teams split two matches last season, with the home team winning each meeting.
Of note, Creighton swept the Johnnies at Carnesecca Arena in 2017 in a match interrupted by a third-set fire alarm.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 14-3 vs. St. John's and coach Joanne Persico.
Hall Mark
Creighton has swept Seton Hall each of the last 12 meetings, and won each of the last 38 sets.
The 38 straight set victories over the Pirates is the longest in program history over one opponent.
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
38 Seton Hall 2015-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
23 Providence 2017-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
Jak Of All Trades
Seton Hall setter Taylor Jakubowski is the younger sister of former Creighton women's soccer standout Taryn Jakubowski.
Perfect Ten
Creighton has won 10 straight matches, its 10th such winning streak since 2012. A win on Friday would tie for CU's seventh-longest streak ever, and a win in both matches this weekend would equal CU's sixth-longest win streak ever.
When Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired, the Jays had never had a win streak longer than five. Each of the 17 longest win streaks in program history have come under Booth's guidance.
Most Consecutive Wins, Creighton History
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
14 Oct. 17-Dec. 2, 2021 Kansas, 3-1
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
10 Sept. 23, 2022 - Present ? ? ?
Nation's Longest Active Win Streaks
Creighton's 10 straight victories ranked as the nation's 10th-longest active win streak entering the week.
Nation's Longest Active Win Streaks
Wins Team Next Match, Date
15 San Diego at Portland, 10/27
14 Yale Cornell, 10/28
14 Wright State at Green Bay, 10/28
13 Pittsburgh at Wake Forest, 10/28
12 Hofstra Chicago State, 10/30
11 Nebraska at #5 Wisconsin, 10/26
11 Northern Iowa Murray State, 10/28
11 Loyola (Chicago) Saint Louis, 10/25
11 Houston Temple, 10/28
10 Creighton at Seton Hall, 10/28
10 Western Kentucky UAB, 10/28
10 Campbell Winthrop, 10/28
20/20 Vision
Creighton enters the weekend two wins away from its 10th season of 20 or more wins in the past 11 seasons, with the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season (when CU only played 16 matches) the only exception.
All 12 of Creighton's 20-win seasons since its 1994 reinstatement have come under the leadership of Kirsten Bernthal Booth. Before her arrival, CU had never won more than 16 matches in a single season.
Most Matches Won, Creighton Season
Year MP W L Pct. Coach
1. 2021 35 31 4 .886 Booth
2. 2012 33 29 4 .879 Booth
2018 34 29 5 .853 Booth
2016 36 29 7 .806 Booth
5. 2015 36 27 9 .750 Booth
6. 2017 33 26 7 .788 Booth
7. 2019 31 25 6 .806 Booth
2014 34 25 9 .735 Booth
9. 2013 32 23 9 .719 Booth
10. 2006 31 21 10 .677 Booth
2007 31 21 10 .667 Booth
2010 31 21 12 .636 Booth
13. 2004 29 18 11 .621 Booth
2008 27 18 9 .667 Booth
2022 21 18 3 .857 Booth
Poll Position
A 10-0 start to BIG EAST play helped the Creighton Volleyball team ascend to a season-best 15th in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll. It's the best ranking for CU since being 14th on Jan. 26, 2021.
Creighton swept road matches at Villanova (Oct. 21) and Georgetown (Oct. 22) over the weekend to up its record to 18-3 overall, tying the best 21-match start in program history.
While CU climbed in the coaches poll, the Bluejay RPI fell two spots in the official NCAA RPI, where it is also No. 15.
League Streak Continues
Creighton has won each of its last 21 regular-season BIG EAST matches. That's the program's third-longest win streak in league play.
During CU's 21-match league win streak, the Bluejays have dropped just eight sets.
Since losing the third set to Butler on Nov. 7, 2021, Creighton has won 49 of its last 55 sets against league foes.
Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By League
31 Nov. 18, 2017 - Nov. 3, 2019 at Villanova, 3-0 BIG EAST
28 Oct. 31, 2015 - Sept. 30, 2017 at Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
21 Oct. 17, 2021- Present TBD BIG EAST
14 Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012 Never (left MVC) MVC
12 Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015 at Villanova, 3-2 BIG EAST
11 Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0 BIG EAST
11 Oct. 6-Nov. 12, 2017 at Villanova, 3-0 BIG EAST
9 Nov. 4, 2005-Sept. 30, 2006 Northern Iowa, 3-2 MVC
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. In 2021, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the tournament title.
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 (thru 10/25)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (9) 147 13 245 63
Marquette (8) 129 28 227 71
Xavier 90 68 142 136
Butler 86 74 153 133
Villanova (1) 79 81 150 131
St. John's (1) 78 82 170 130
Seton Hall (1) 70 89 142 149
DePaul 43 117 107 167
Georgetown 35 117 86 178
Providence* 24 120 91 160
Connecticut# 22 14 39 28
*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.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 162 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 28 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 Marquette (4), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (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 18-1 - 18-1
Connecticut 1-1 1-0 2-1
DePaul 19-0 1-0 20-0
Georgetown 18-0 - 18-0
Marquette 16-3 5-1 21-4
Providence 14-0 - 14-0
Seton Hall 13-3 2-0 15-3
St. John's 14-2 0-1 14-3
Villanova 15-3 3-0 18-3
Xavier 19-0 3-0 22-0
Total 147-13 15-2 162-15
Poll Road Ahead
Creighton has been ranked in each of the last 23 AVCA Top 25 polls. With little movement from week-to-week, however, CU is one of 19 teams to be ranked each of those polls, a group that includes Baylor, BYU, Creighton, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Washington, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 92 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll.
Schmitt A Ki Player
Kiana Schmitt entered the 2022 season with three career matches (of 60 played) with 10 or more kills, but the senior already has nine matches in double-figures this fall.
Schmitt had 10 kills on Aug. 26 vs. Wichita State, then rewrote her career-high with 12 kills one night later win at Wyoming. She then had 10 kills vs. No. 2 Nebraska on Sept. 7, 12 kills vs. Florida State and 11 more against Omaha. Schmitt had exactly a dozen kills for the fifth time in her career on Sept. 18th at Rice.
Schmitt reset her career-high with 16 kills vs. DePaul on Oct. 16.
Creighton is 34-4 all-time when Schmitt has six or more kills.
Block Record Falls
Creighton set a school-record for total blocks and block assists in its Oct. 16 win vs. DePaul.
Creighton's 22.0 blocks broke the record of 21.0 done twice before (in 2003 and 2012), and were the most by any BIG EAST team since 2018.
Creighton's 40 block assists were two more than the previous mark set in 2009 and 2012, and eight more than the previous mark for a five-set match done three times.
Individually, Kiana Schmitt's 13 total blocks were the most by a Bluejay since Kelli Browning in 2012, and tied for fifth-most ever by a Bluejay.
Most Total Blocks, Individual
17 Ashley Williams (3-14) vs. Wichita State (5s) 10-10-03
16 Ashley Williams (4-12) vs. Southern Illinois (5s) 9-19-03
15 Kelli Browning (0-15) vs. Tulsa (4s) 9-8-12
14 Jessica Houts (0-14) vs. Lipscomb (4s) 9-4-09
13 Laurel Sanford (1-12) vs. Southern Illinois (5s) 10-21-11
13 Kiana Schmitt (1-12) vs. DePaul (5s) 10-16-22
Most Total Blocks, Team
22 vs. DePaul (2-40) 10-16-22
21 vs. Southern Illinois (8-26) (5s) 9-19-03
21 vs. Tulsa (2-38) (4s) 9-8-12
20 vs. Lipscomb (1-38) (4s) 9-4-09
20 vs. Indiana State (3-34) (3s) 10-24-09
20 at Kansas (4-32) (5s) 9-19-12
Most Block Assists, Team
40 vs. DePaul (5s) 10-16-22
38 vs. Lipscomb (4s) 9-4-09
38 vs. Tulsa (4s) 9-8-12
36 vs. Southern Illinois (4s) 10-27-12
35 at Bradley (4s) 11-19-05
Whitten Eyes 500 Sets
Allison Whitten enters this weekend having appeared in 499 career sets, though the first 417 of those came at Morehead State from 2018-21.
By comparison, the only Bluejay in history to play in 500 or more sets was Lauren Smith, who appeared in a program-record 511 sets with the Jays from 2013-16. Last year Abby Bottomley completed her career with 517 sets played, including 403 at High Point.
101 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked this week for the 101st time in program history. That's 45th-most of all programs in NCAA history.
All 101 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 67-35 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won 18 of its last 25 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, at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign and at Omaha and UConn in 2022.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 17-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton's five victories in five-set matches this season ties a program record also done in 2003, 2011 and 2015.
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 31-4
2022 5-2 18-3
Total 82-63 525-334
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 357-11 (.970) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 300-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 226-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 115-1 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 17-203 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-104 (.126) under Booth.
One of those comebacks came on Oct. 7, 2022 at UConn, which was CU's first comeback win on the road in league play after trailing 0-2 since 2015. CU then overcame an 0-2 home deficit on Oct. 14, vs. No. 16 Marquette, the first such comeback against a ranked foe. Combined, the UConn and Marquette comebacks mark the first time in program history the team has posted multiple reverse sweeps in the same month.
Those 17 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
10/07/22 at UConn 25-15, 25-12, 15-13 Booth
10/14/22 #16 Marquette 25-19, 25-16, 15-8 Booth
Five For Fighting
Creighton won back-to-back five set home matches against Marquette and DePaul on Oct. 14 and Oct. 16. Incredibly, it was the first time in 10 years of regular-season BIG EAST play that Creighton had played back-to-back five setters in conference matches at any site.
The last time it happened was CU's final two league matches as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2012 when it won road matches at Wichita State and Missouri State.
Ironically, Creighton honored the league champion 2012 Volleyball team last weekend during its victory over Marquette.
Creighton had not won multiple five-set home matches on the same weekend since October of 2010 when it beat Missouri State and Wichita State on consecutive days.
Bouncing Back
The Creighton staff is quick to credit athletic performance coach Brad Schmidt for helping the team get stronger during the off-season and maintain that strength during the season.
Need evidence of that? Creighton has played seven five-set matches so far this season. Not only is Creighton 5-2 in five-setters this fall, but the Jays are also 7-0 this year in the contest after a five-setter.
Dating to last season, Creighton has won 12 straight matches following a five-set match and are 17-1 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
Didn't Have To Wait Long
Creighton sophomore Kendra Wait became the ninth player in program history to reach 2,000 career sets when she did so on Oct. 16 vs. DePaul.
Wait needed 54 matches to reach the milestone, sixth-fastest in program history. The five women ahead of her combined to win First Team All-Conference honors nine times.
Wait enters this weekend with 900 assists in 21 matches this season. Only two Bluejays have ever reached 1,000 assists within CU's first 22 matches of a season.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 2,000 Assists (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 43 09/22/06 Drake
Brittany Coleman 45 10/02/04 Southern Illinois
Kailey Reyes 49 09/01/00 at Iowa State
Lydia Dimke 52 10/13/17 Butler
Madelyn Cole 53 10/25/19 at Providence
Kendra Wait 54 10/16/22 DePaul
Megan Bober 55 11/05/10 at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee 66 09/15/96 at UMKC
Michelle Sicner 109 11/23/14 Seton Hall
Single-Season Matches to 1,000 Assists
Name MP Opponent Year
Korie Lebeda 21 at Drake 2006
Brittany Coleman 22 at Southern Illinois 2004
Korie Lebeda 23 Missouri State 2005
Brittany Coleman 23 Northern Iowa 2003
Kailey Reyes 23 at Southern Illinois 1999
Melissa Weisensee 23 at Evansville 1996
Kailey Reyes 24 at Wichita State 2000
Melissa Weisensee 24 at Evansville 1997
Kailey Reyes 25 Wichita State 2001
Korie Lebeda 25 Southern Illinois 2007
Korie Lebeda 26 Bradley 2008
Lydia Dimke 26 Xavier 2016
Madelyn Cole 26 at Seton Hall 2018
Megan Bober 27 Evansville 2010
Lydia Dimke 27 Georgetown 2017
Madelyn Cole 27 #9 Marquette 2019
Megan Bober 28 at Northern Iowa 2009
Megan Bober 28 at Wichita State 2012
Michelle Sicner 28 Xavier 2013
Kendra Wait 29 at Villanova 2021
Maggie Baumert 32 vs. Seton Hall 2014
Not Much Middle Ground
Of Creighton's last 15 matches, there's been seven five-set matches and seven sweeps. Only one of those contests has been exactly four sets.
Creighton is 5-2 this year in five-set matches, 4-1 in four-setters and 9-0 in sweeps.
Creighton is averaging 18.63 digs per set and 14.17 assists per set in contests to go five sets this season. Kiara Reinhardt his .349 in those matches, while Norah Sis averages 4.14 kills per set.
Each of Creighton's last 12 matches against Seton Hall have been 3-0 victories.
Creighton is 39-1 in its last 40 matches to last exactly three sets.
Hall Call
Megan (Bober) Varasteh entered the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 15th, at a banquet at Hilton Omaha.
Varasteh was part of the 54th class of inductees (along with Renae Sinkler-O'Gorman and Carol Ketcham) and gives the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame 94 inductees, plus the 1991 Creighton Baseball Team. The Athletics Hall of Fame started in 1968 with the induction of Bluejay great Bob Gibson.
Varasteh starred as a member of the Creighton Volleyball program from 2008-12, becoming the program's first player in earn AVCA All-America honors multiple times. She became the volleyball program's first woman named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as well as MVC Tournament MVP, helping the Bluejays to their first regular-season and conference tournament titles and a then-record 29 victories. She closed her career with a school-record 15 triple-doubles (second in MVC history) and as the only player in league history with at least 4,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 800 kills and 400 blocks.
She joined Melissa Walsh (2009), Korie Lebeda (2014) and Kelli Browning (2021) as the only Creighton Volleyball players to be inducted.
In addition to being named Creighton's Female Athlete of the Year, she was also recognized as the Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, repeated her spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team selection as a senior.
The last win of Bober's career was a 3-0 sweep over Marquette in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
A Hot Start
Creighton has tied its best start ever after 21 matches at 18-3. It's the fourth time it's done so, and third time in the past four years.
Before this year, Creighton also started 18-3 in 2012, 2019 and 2021.
Creighton's 2012 team started 29-3.
The 2019 squad improved to 19-3 with a win over Seton Hall, but lost its 23rd match.
Last year's team started 31-3.
Best in the BIG EAST
Marquette is 227-71 since the start of the 2013 season, but just 4-21 in that time against Creighton.
In other words, the Golden Eagles own a .160 winning percentage against Creighton (4-21) compared to a .817 mark (223-50) against everyone else.
No other team has beaten Marquette more than five times in the past decade (2013-22), with in-state rival Wisconsin (5) next-closest. Among BIG EAST teams, Xavier owns four wins to top those schools not named Creighton.
If you wanted to break it down to just the past five seasons, Marquette is 1-11 against Creighton (.083) and 109-13 (.893) against everyone else.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 163-38 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 17-22 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, 37 of Creighton's 67 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 254-30 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but two of its past 88 home matches over unranked teams and all but nine of its last 112 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 eight seasons (2015-22). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Creighton is 22-83 all-time against ranked teams and 12 of those top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (7) or Kentucky (5).
The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 17-22)
Home: 7-9 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
09/02/22 #17 Creighton #25 USC 3-1
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky #17 Creighton 1-3
09/07/22 #2 Nebraska #17 Creighton 2-3
10/14/22 #21 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-2
Welcome Back Jaela
Jaela Zimmerman made her 2022 debut on Sept. 30 when she checked in to serve set point in Creighton's 25-15 set one victory over Butler.
She made her second appearance on Oct. 8 on match point at Providence, and promptly dialed up her first ace of the season.
The pressure level upped a notch on Oct. 16 when she was inserted into the fifth set with the score tied at 7-all. She earned her first dig of the season immediately and served a 3-0 run as the Jays took the lead for good in the 15-11 win.
Zimmerman saw her first front row action of the season on Oct. 22 at Georgetown.
A two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and three-time All-BIG EAST selection, Zimmerman tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in Creighton's NCAA Tournament win vs. Ole Miss on Dec. 2, 2021 and underwent surgery five weeks later.
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won nine conference regular-season titles. All but one of Creighton's nine crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
Creighton has also won eight conference tournament titles since 2012, tied for the most in the nation with Dayton and Western Kentucky.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2021
Regular-Season League Tournament
9 (1 shared) Creighton 8 Creighton
9 (1) Texas 8 Dayton
9 (5) Western Kentucky 8 Western Kentucky
8 BYU 7 Fairfield
8 (1) Colorado State 6 LIU
8 Fairfield 6 American
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 10th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 86-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (79-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 70-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 64-1 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 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Jaela Zimmerman is 41-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 123-22 in sets played.
Defense Delivers
Creighton has had its way in the BIG EAST thanks to dominant defense in recent times.
Sixteen of CU's last 19 BIG EAST opponents have hit lower than .120.
The only team to hit better than .177 in that time was Marquette's .207 on Oct. 14.
Over the past 19 matches versus league opposition, Creighton opponents are hitting .097 (614-395-2250 in 64 sets) and averaging just 9.59 kills per set.
Date Opponent (CU Result) K-E-TA Pct.
10/30/21 at DePaul (W 3-0) 35-25-127 .079
11/05/21 Xavier (W 3-0) 35-14-119 .176
11/07/21 Butler (W 3-1) 45-30-177 .085
11/12/21 at Georgetown (W 3-0) 24-22-116 .017
11/13/21 at Villanova (W 3-0) 24-13-94 .117
11/19/21 Seton Hall (W 3-0) 16-20-87 -.046
11/21/21 St. John's (W 3-0) 25-22-105 .029
11/26/21 vs. DePaul (W 3-0) 33-24-102 .088
11/27/21 at Marquette (W 3-0) 34-24-121 .083
09/23/22 Georgetown (W 3-0) 18-12-98 .061
09/25/22 Villanova (W 3-0) 29-21-89 .090
09/28/22 Xavier (W 3-0) 24-18-101 .059
09/30/22 Butler (W 3-0) 32-19-120 .108
10/07/22 at UConn (W 3-2) 52-29-160 .144
10/08/22 at Providence (W 3-0) 25-14-99 .111
10/14/22 #16 Marquette (W 3-2) 59-21-184 .207
10/16/22 DePaul (W 3-2) 53-33-176 .114
10/21/22 at Villanova (W 3-0) 26-16-110 .091
10/22/22 at Georgetown (W 3-0) 25-18-85 .082
Down For The Count
Creighton has outscored teams 854-592 in league play this season and has allowed a BIG EAST opponent score more than 18 points in just 10 of the 36 sets that have been played.
Creighton has held Seton Hall to fewer than 20 points in 14 of the last 15 sets played.
20 At A Time For Sis
Norah Sis had 27 kills in a 3-2 win at UConn on Oct. 7, one shy of her career-high done in September in a 3-2 win vs. Florida State.
On Oct. 14 and 16 Sis had 21 kills vs. Marquette, then provided 22 more two days later vs. DePaul.
Sis is one of six players in program history with multiple matches of 25 or more kills. Her 10 career matches of 20 or more kills ranks tied for fifth.
Most Matches With 25+ Kills, Creighton Career
25+K Name Years
8 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
6 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
6 Jaali Winters 2015-18
3 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
2 Jessica Houts 2005-09
2 Norah Sis 2021-Present
1 Michelle Prorock 1994-96
1 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
1 Shelly Kapler 1996-99
1 Melanie Keolanui 1997-00
1 Kelly Goc 2004-07
1 Alicia Runge 2009-10
1 Keeley Davis 2019-Present
Matches With 20+ Kills, Career
20+K Name Years
23 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
20 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
18 Jaali Winters 2015-18
13 Kelly Goc 2004-07
10 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
10 Norah Sis 2021-Present
7 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
5 Jessica Houts 2005-09
5 Leah McNary 2011-14
Matches With 20+ Kills, Season
20+K Name Year
11 Leah Ratzlaff 2003
9 Leah Ratzlaff 2004
9 Jaali Winters 2015
8 Melissa Walsh 2000
7 Melissa Walsh 1999
6 Kelly Goc 2006
6 Jaali Winters 2016
6 Norah Sis 2022
5 Kelly Goc 2007
5 Taryn Kloth 2018
Wait, How Is That Possible?
Only 34 players in the nation average 10.60 assists per set. Of those 34, only Creighton's Kendra Wait averages more than 3.26 digs per set.
Wait is averaging 3.34 digs per set this fall.
Let's Get It Started
Creighton has won its first 10 league matches in 2022 and has now started 10-0 (or better) in league play in five of the past eight seasons.
During four of the previous seven seasons, Creighton started BIG EAST play 11-0 or better.
Year League Wins Before First Loss Lost To
2013 0 at Butler
2014 5 at Seton Hall
2015 11 at Villanova
2016 18 --
2017 4 at Marquette
2018 18 --
2019 12 at Villanova
2020 1 #25 Marquette
2021 2 at St. John's
2022 10 (so far) --
Set Streaks
How often had Creighton previously won each of its first 12 sets of a BIG EAST season before this year? How about never?
Only once previously had Creighton even won its first six sets in league play, and that came during the 2018 season where CU went 18-0 and dropped just 6-of-60 sets in league play all season. The most league sets won in a row to start a season had come in 2011, when Creighton won its first eight sets played. That team finished 12-6 in Missouri Valley Conference action.
Year Set Wins Before First Set Loss Set Lost To
2013 1 at Butler
2014 5 Butler
2015 1 Seton Hall
2016 4 DePaul
2017 2 Georgetown
2018 7 at Butler
2019 5 Georgetown
2020 1 #25 Marquette
2021 2 at Butler
2022 12 --
8 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2021 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win eight straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win eight or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball was picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Creighton earned 9-of-11 first place votes and 99 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 90 points and the other two votes for first place.
DePaul (72) was picked third, just ahead of UConn (71) and St. John's (66). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were Villanova (54), Butler (47), Xavier (42), Georgetown (25), Providence (25) and Seton Hall (14).
Creighton also had three women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait as well as unanimous selection Norah Sis. Sis was also tabbed the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 17 of 19 years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including nine 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 1st - -
2022 1st ??? ???
Wait Making History
Just nine days after she had 59 assists and 36 digs against Florida State, Kendra Wait had 56 assists and 24 digs on Sept. 18 at Rice.
Wait is the first Bluejay with a match of at least 50 assists and 20 digs in a match since Korie Lebeda in 2006, and first Bluejay since Kailey Reyes (in 1999) to post multiple matches of at least 50 assists and 20 digs in the same season.
No Creighton player has ever done it three times in the same season.
50 Assists, 20 Digs In A Match
A D Name Opp. Date
51 21 Melissa Weisensee at Wichita State (5s) 9/14/96
53 24 Melissa Weisensee at Indiana State (5s) 10/18/96
65 22 Melissa Weisensee at Evansville (5s) 11/8/97
55 28 Kailey Reyes Evansville (5s) 9/11/99
65 24 Kailey Reyes Illinois State (4s) 9/24/99
64 23 Kailey Reyes at Evansville (5s) 11/4/00
54 22 Brittany Coleman at Illinois State (4s) 10/18/03
62 21 Brittany Coleman at So. Illinois (4s) 10/29/04
71 20 Korie Lebeda at Evansville (5s) 11/18/06
59 36 Kendra Wait vs. Florida State (5s) 9/9/22
56 24 Kendra Wait at Rice (5s) 9/18/22
All That Jazz
Jazz Schmidt had just 25 kills in Creighton's first 10 matches of the season before she erupted for a season-high 17 kills on Sept. 18 at Rice.
Schmidt's 17 kills were the most by a left-handed Bluejay since Megan Bober owned 19 kills at Southern Illinois on Oct. 21, 2011.
Sis Swings Away
Norah Sis obliterated Creighton's school-record of 77 attack attempts in a match (held by Jaali Winters) when she had 93 swings in CU's 3-2 win vs. Florida State on Sept. 9.
Sis' 93 attacks are the most in the nation by a player this season.
More From Sept. 9
Creighton's 129 digs vs. Florida State were two shy of its school record and second-most in the nation this year for a single match. CU's only match with more was 131 vs. Illinois State on Oct. 13, 2000.
Creighton's 254 attack attempts rank as its second-most in program history. The only match with more came Oct. 14, 2000 vs. Indiana State (296).
Norah Sis' 28 kills vs. Florida State are tied for fourth-most in program history, and four away from Michelle Prorock's school record set in 1996.
Whitten Surpasses 2,000 Digs
Creighton libero Allison Whitten surpassed 2,000 career digs on Sept. 18 at Rice, as she had 24 digs on the afternoon.
The grad transfer had 1,823 digs in four seasons at Morehead State and leads CU with 330 digs this season, giving her 2,153 in her career.
By comparison, the top two women in digs at Creighton (only) are Brittany Witt (2,079 from 2016-19) and Kate Elman (2,054 from 2012-15).
Last year's Bluejay libero, Abby Bottomley, finished her career seventh in NCAA history with 2,711 career digs, though the first 2,158 digs came while at High Point from 2017-20.
Whitten has nine or more digs in all 21 contests this fall.
Attendance Update
Creighton enters the week ranked 10th nationally in total home attendance (30,073) and 12th in fans per home match (3,007).
Creighton has led the BIG EAST in average home attendance in every non-COVID year since joining the league.
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin opened her BIG EAST career with 10 kills (Sept. 23 vs. Georgetown), 11 kills (Sept. 25 vs. Villanova), 14 kills (Sept. 28 vs. Xavier) and 14 kills (Sept. 30 vs. Butler), helping her earn back-to-back BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades.
She was the first Bluejay freshman to open her BIG EAST career with four straight matches of 10 or more kills, and just the third in program history to do so in any conference.
Martin had her first career double-double vs. No. 16 Marquette when she had 18 kills and 12 digs on Oct. 14.
Allie Oelke did it in four straight matches in 2007 and JoDe Cieloha set the record that still stands with five straight matches in 1994. Both of those came in the Missouri Valley Conference.
CU Freshmen With 10+ Kills to Start League Play
Streak Name Year
5 JoDe Cieloha 1994
4 Allie Oelke 2007
4 Ava Martin 2022
3 Rachelle Von 1997
3 Melissa Walsh 1998
3 Jaali Winters 2015
2 Michelle Prorock 1994
2 Carolyn Decker 2004
2 Jessica Houts 2005
2 Melanie Jereb 2012
Historically Speaking
No. 17 Creighton hosted 15,797 fans on Sept. 7 against No. 2 Nebraska, setting a record for the largest regular-season volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history. The mark stood for all of nine days before Wisconsin hosted 16,833 fans for a match vs. Florida.
Here's a look at the top volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Of note, 13 of the top 14 figures of 11,000 or more have been in the state of Nebraska.
Largest Regular-Season Volleyball-Only Crowds in NCAA History
Att. Opponent, Result Date Site
16,833 Florida def. Wisconsin 9/16/22 Madison, WI
15,797 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/7/22 Omaha, NE
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 09/08/21 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
MVP Sis Also Picks Up BIG EAST Honor
In addition to being named MVP of the Rumble in the Rockies, Norah Sis also brought home BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolades on Aug. 29th.
The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year averaged 5.23 points, 4.91 kills, 2.27 digs and 0.36 blocks per set on .250 hitting.
The Papillion, Neb., product started her season with near-identical double-doubles on Friday in wins over Iowa State (17 kills, 10 digs, 1 assist) and Wichita State (15 kills, 10 digs, 1 block). The reigning VolleyballMag.com National Freshman of the Year then slammed 22 kills while adding five digs, three blocks and an ace in a 3-1 win at Wyoming to clinch the tournament title. Her 25.0 points against the Cowgirls were a career-best effort and helped her earned Tournament MVP honors for the second time in her young career.
Sis was honored as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week six times last season, when she was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, but this is her first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolade.
Sis Races Past 500, 600 & 700 Kills
Sophomore Norah Sis is one of the fastest players in CU history to 500, 600 and 700 career kills.
She now owns 764 career kills in 56 matches.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 500 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 34 12/04/15 vs. Coastal Carolina
Melissa Walsh 37 09/25/99 Indiana State
Norah Sis 40 09/03/22 #16 Kentucky
JoDe Cieloha 43 10/15/95 at Indiana State
Keeley Davis 43 03/28/21 Xavier
Amanda Cvejdlik 44 10/13/06 at Wichita State
Creighton's Quickest Players To 600 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 41 09/03/16 at USC
Melissa Walsh 42 10/09/99 at Wichita State
Norah Sis 45 09/17/22 vs. Kansas State
Leah Ratzlaff 52 11/14/03 Illinois State
JoDe Cieloha 53 08/30/96 Murray State
Amanda Cvejdlik 53 11/17/06 at Southern Illinois
Creighton's Quickest Players To 700 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 49 11/06/99 Missouri State
Jaali Winters 50 09/25/16 DePaul
Norah Sis 53 10/14/22 #16 Marquette
Leah Ratzlaff 57 09/03/04 vs. Montana
JoDe Cieloha 61 09/14/96 at Wichita State
Alicia Runge 62 11/27/10 at Northern Iowa
Creighton's Quickest Players To 800 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 56 09/02/00 vs. UNCG
Jaali Winters 59 10/28/16 at Seton Hall
Leah Ratzlaff 64 09/14/04 at Iowa
JoDe Cieloha 68 10/11/96 Bradley
Jessica Houts 73 09/05/08 at Jacksonville St.
10 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make 10 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 10 NCAA Tournaments (2012-21). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 11 of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 18th in the AVCA preseason poll. It's the eighth time in the past 10 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason.
The No. 18 slotting was tied for the fourth-best preseason ranking in program history.
Over the previous 14 seasons, 255-of-350 teams (72.9 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and since 2008 318-of-350 teams (90.9 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 11th straight season that CU has been ranked at least one week, extending a program record.
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final Rank
2013 25th 23-9 NR
2014 23rd 25-9 NR
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th 25-6 16th
2020 16th 12-4 NR
2022 18th TBD TBD
Jae-Z Plays The Hits
Jaela Zimmerman owns 997 kills, good for 15th in Creighton history. She stands just three kills of becoming the 15th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone. Zimmerman has played in 107 career matches.
Career Kills
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
11. Allie Oelke 445 1,126 2007-10
12. Kelli Browning 424 1,104 2011-14
13. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
14. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
15. Jaela Zimmerman 347 997 2018-Pr.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters 73 08/25/17 vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff 76 10/22/04 Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha 83 09/13/97 at Drake
Kelly Goc 87 11/24/06 vs Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts 90 11/08/08 Illinois State
Leah McNary 96 09/12/14 Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik 99 11/15/08 at Evansville
Shelly Kapler 103 11/18/99 vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth 103 08/31/18 vs. NC State
Allie Oelke 107 10/09/10 Wichita State
Kelli Browning 110 10/26/14 DePaul
Lauren Smith 119 10/07/16 at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson 120 09/30/17 at St. John's
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Sky McCune on Aug. 26 vs. Iowa State, Creighton has started 15 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 19 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), Norah Sis (2021) and Sky McCune (2022), 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 Kostelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
Ten of those women (Sis, Wait, 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, Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019 and Sis recognized as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2022.
Last 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. The 2012 and 2021 teams are the two winningest single-season teams in program history.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Morgan Colangelo, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes was recognized as the nation's No. 24 class by PrepVolleyball.
Martin was listed as the nation's No. 47 recruit, while McCune was tabbed 52nd-best. Creighton now owns eight players on its 2022 roster who were Top 100 recruits.
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
47 2022 Ava Martin
52 2022 Sky McCune
* 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)
2022 24th (Colangelo, Martin, McCune, Remmes)
Dealing Up Aces
Keeley Davis had six aces on the opening weekend of the season, becoming the eighth player in CU history to reach century mark for her career.
Davis reached 100 career aces in her 82nd career contest, which ranks third-fastest in Bluejay history.
It's also worth noting that three of Davis' teammates entered the year having owned more than 100 career aces, though they've done so at other schools. Bethany Clapp owned 103 aces in 97 matches at Incarnate Word, Jazz Schmidt had 103 aces in 96 matches at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic and Allison Whitten had 103 aces in 115 contests at Morehead State.
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Keeley Davis 356 131 2019-Pr.
3. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
4. Brittany Witt 471 122 2016-19
5. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
6. Kate Elman 464 105 2012-15
7. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
8. Jaali Winters 494 101 2015-18
9. Madelyn Cole 225 93 2018-19
10. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Aces (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Molly Moran 73 08/31/01 vs. DePaul
Melissa Weisensee 77 11/01/96 Southern Illinois
Keeley Davis 82 08/26/22 vs. Wichita St.
JoDe Cieloha 85 09/06/97 at UNLV
Shelly Kapler 95 10/15/99 Bradley
Brittany Witt 107 10/05/19 Seton Hall
Kate Elman 120 11/15/15 Butler
Jaali Winters 135 11/17/18 Providence
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 364-33 (.917) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 68-149 (.313) 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 131-4 in its last 135 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 and on Sept. 3, 2022 to No. 16 Kentucky.
Creighton has gone 96-3 in its last 99 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to an 11-15 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 137-2 in its last 139 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Eleventh Heaven
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 11 NCAA Tournaments.
That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history, as she's tied former men's soccer coach Bob Warming atop that list.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 11
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
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 432-3 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
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played four matches against 2020 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 3-1 against such teams.
This year's team owns eight matches (Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and CU is 4-3 against those foes to date.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 93-104 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
2022 4-3 so far
TOTAL 96-139
TOTAL Under Booth 93-104
Marian Pipeline
This is the 20th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as senior Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive.
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.
2022: Emily Bressman
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
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 432 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 10/27)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 618*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 432*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 387*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
League Opener Histories
Including its Sept. 23 sweep of Georgetown, Creighton owns a 21-8 record all-time in conference openers, including an 18-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 9-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, and nine straight wins.
Each of the previous nine times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 144-10 in regular-season league action. Creighton also won eight of the last nine conference tournament titles during those years, going 16-1 in those seasons.
In the 20 seasons that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owns a combined .767 (273-83) winning percentage (entering 2022) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Bluejays have had a losing record on five occasions and owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton is 24-5 overall and 18-2 under Booth, with 12 straight wins.
In league road openers, Creighton is 20-9 overall and 17-3 under Booth, with nine straight wins.
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 8-12 against ranked non-conference foes over the last five seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Creighton owned 12 non-conference wins last season to set a program record for a regular-season. It's actually also the first season with 10 wins prior to league play.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year Non-Con W-L vs. Ranked Non-Con Final W-L
2003 3-8 0-0 12-18
2004 8-2 0-1 18-11
2005 6-5 0-3 16-14
2006 8-3 0-1 21-10
2007 6-5 0-3 21-10
2008 3-5 0-3 18-9
2009 3-8 0-3 14-17
2010 5-5 0-1 21-12
2011 5-7 0-1 17-14
2012 9-2 0-1 29-4
2013 9-3 1-2 23-9
2014 7-6 0-5 25-9
2015 6-7 1-4 27-9
2016 6-6 0-4 29-7
2017 7-4 3-3 26-7
2018 8-4 1-3 29-5
2019 7-3 2-3 25-6
2020 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 31-4
2022 8-3 1-2 TBD
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters
From last year's team, only Abby Bottomley, Naomi Hickman, Eve Magill, Ally Van Eekeren, Annika Welty are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 511.8 of a possible 700% back (73.1 percent).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1,331 (87.4%) 192 (12.6%)
Kills 1,307 (80.2%) 323 (19.8%)
Points 1,627.0 (75.6%) 526.0 (24.4%)
Matches Started 154 (73.3%) 56 (26.7%)
Digs 1,460 (70.6%) 607 (29.4%)
Aces 128 (66.7%) 64 (33.3%)
Blocks 192 (58.0%) 139.0 (42.0%)
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 31-4 last season, won an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and reached the Second Round while playing in its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Norah Sis was named a Third Team All-American by the AVCA and the National Freshman of the Year by VolleyballMag.com. Also named Honorable Mention All-American were Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait.
CU's 31 victories were a school-record and included five tournament titles.
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | FLO SPORTS INFO | SHU RADIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SHU NOTES |
Match #23: #15 Creighton at St. John's • Sunday, Oct. 30 • 12:00 p.m. CST • Queens, N.Y.
| ESPN3 VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SJU NOTES |
This Week
Eight-time defending BIG EAST regular-season champion and 15th-ranked Creighton (18-3, 10-0 BIG EAST) concludes a stretch of four straight road matches on the East Coast as it begins the second half of league play in earnest.
On Friday, Creighton visits Seton Hall (13-9, 4-6 BIG EAST) in a 5 p.m. CST match at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J.
On Sunday at 12 p.m. CST, the Bluejays meet St. John's (16-7, 7-3 BIG EAST) at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, N.Y.
Broadcast Information
Friday's match vs. Seton Hall will be available on FloSports. More information about discounted subscriptions to FloSports programming can be found at http://GoCreighton.com/FloSports.
Sunday's contest at St. John's is slated to be broadcast on ESPN3 and can be viewed at http://WatchESPN.com or via the ESPN app.
Live Stats Information
Both matches will have free live stats. The link to each is also on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #15 Creighton
Ranked 15th nationally, Creighton has won 10 straight matches to improve to 18-3 this season. The lone losses have come to then-No. 16 Kentucky (3-1 on Sept. 3), to then-No. 2 Nebraska (3-2 on Sept. 7), and at current No. 21 Rice (3-2 on Sept. 18).
The Bluejays are 10-0 in BIG EAST play, with seven sweeps and three five-set victories.
Creighton owns wins over a boatload of NCAA Tournament regulars, including No. 16 Marquette, No. 25 USC, Iowa State, Kansas State, Florida State, Northern Iowa and Wichita State.
Sophomore OH Norah Sis (4.01 kps., 2.50 dps.) was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year after a standout season that saw her pick up National Freshman of the Year accolades from VolleyballMag.com. She tops the BIG EAST in kills per set and points per set this year.
Senior OH Keeley Davis is averaging 2.55 kills, 3.04 digs and 0.42 aces per set, and senior MB Kiana Schmitt owns 2.23 kills per set on .297 hitting and recently had a career-high 13 block match. She leads all players with 42 blocks in BIG EAST action this fall.
As if that wasn't enough, OH Ava Martin (2.22 kps.) has taken her game to another level in league play, hitting .353 and averaging 2.91 kills per set against BIG EAST competition to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades in three of the past five weeks.
Quarterbacking the Bluejay offense is sophomore S Kendra Wait (10.98 aps., 3.34 dps., .335%), while senior L Allison Whitten leads CU with 4.02 digs per set and owns 2,153 career digs.
Creighton returns four starters from last season's 31-4 squad that reached a 10th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. Having added four freshmen and three graduate transfers in the off-season, CU is favored by league coaches to win a ninth straight title in 2022.
Creighton averages 14.23 kills, 1.52 aces, 17.00 digs and 1.94 blocks per set while hitting .263 as a team.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall is 13-9 this season and 4-6 in BIG EAST play under new head coach Shannon Thompson. The Pirates will be looking to snap a five-match losing streak on Friday when first place Creighton comes to South Orange.
Jenna Walsh leads SHU with 3.31 kills per set, just ahead of Bianca Bucciarelli (2.61 kps.) and Perri Lucas (2.43 kps.). Asli Subasill tops The Hall with 1.05 blocks per set and 0.37 aces per set.
Madison Klungel (4.75 aps.) and Taylor Jakubowski (4.63 aps.) share setting duties and Anna Holland (4.24 dps.) is the Pirates' libero.
Seton Hall averages 12.42 kills, 1.55 aces, 13.87 digs and 1.90 blocks per set and hits .217 as a team.
Scouting St. John's
St. John's is 16-7 this season and third in the BIG EAST standings with a 7-3 league mark. SJU started the season 3-4 but has been on a roll since then, with two of those three subsequent losses coming against nationally-ranked Marquette.
The Red Storm are paced by Rachele Rastelli (3.66 kps,. .256%) and Giorgia Walther (3.74 kps.), with Wiktoria Kowalczyk (10.83 aps.) running the offense.
Bree Martin paces the Red Storm with 31 aces, and 3.19 digs per set.
St. John's averages 13.74 kills, 1.33 aces, 11.6 digs and 2.34 blocks per set on .240 hitting.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 432-182 record in her 20th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to eight straight BIG EAST titles (2014-21), and nine league crowns in the last 10 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 11 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 11 seasons (including 2022), 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, Brian Rosen and Elise Fulcher.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Creighton is 15-3 all-time against Seton Hall, and 6-2 in South Orange. The Bluejays have won 14 straight meetings in the series, including 12 consecutive sweeps. CU outscored The Hall 151-94. in two victories last season.
The Pirates are one of four (joining Marquette, St. John's & Villanova) BIG EAST teams to have beaten Creighton multiple times since the start of the 2014 season, with CU going 14-2 against the Pirates and 135-8 against everyone else in the league.
Series History vs. St. John's
Creighton leads the all-time series with St. John's by a 14-3 margin, including a 7-1 mark in Queens.
After losing the first meeting, Creighton won 13 straight contests vs. St. John's until that streak was snapped in the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament semifinals in Milwaukee. That loss came after CU had won 30-of-31 sets vs. SJU. The teams split two matches last season, with the home team winning each meeting.
Of note, Creighton swept the Johnnies at Carnesecca Arena in 2017 in a match interrupted by a third-set fire alarm.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 14-3 vs. St. John's and coach Joanne Persico.
Hall Mark
Creighton has swept Seton Hall each of the last 12 meetings, and won each of the last 38 sets.
The 38 straight set victories over the Pirates is the longest in program history over one opponent.
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
38 Seton Hall 2015-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
23 Providence 2017-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
Jak Of All Trades
Seton Hall setter Taylor Jakubowski is the younger sister of former Creighton women's soccer standout Taryn Jakubowski.
Perfect Ten
Creighton has won 10 straight matches, its 10th such winning streak since 2012. A win on Friday would tie for CU's seventh-longest streak ever, and a win in both matches this weekend would equal CU's sixth-longest win streak ever.
When Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired, the Jays had never had a win streak longer than five. Each of the 17 longest win streaks in program history have come under Booth's guidance.
Most Consecutive Wins, Creighton History
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
14 Oct. 17-Dec. 2, 2021 Kansas, 3-1
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
10 Sept. 23, 2022 - Present ? ? ?
Nation's Longest Active Win Streaks
Creighton's 10 straight victories ranked as the nation's 10th-longest active win streak entering the week.
Nation's Longest Active Win Streaks
Wins Team Next Match, Date
15 San Diego at Portland, 10/27
14 Yale Cornell, 10/28
14 Wright State at Green Bay, 10/28
13 Pittsburgh at Wake Forest, 10/28
12 Hofstra Chicago State, 10/30
11 Nebraska at #5 Wisconsin, 10/26
11 Northern Iowa Murray State, 10/28
11 Loyola (Chicago) Saint Louis, 10/25
11 Houston Temple, 10/28
10 Creighton at Seton Hall, 10/28
10 Western Kentucky UAB, 10/28
10 Campbell Winthrop, 10/28
20/20 Vision
Creighton enters the weekend two wins away from its 10th season of 20 or more wins in the past 11 seasons, with the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season (when CU only played 16 matches) the only exception.
All 12 of Creighton's 20-win seasons since its 1994 reinstatement have come under the leadership of Kirsten Bernthal Booth. Before her arrival, CU had never won more than 16 matches in a single season.
Most Matches Won, Creighton Season
Year MP W L Pct. Coach
1. 2021 35 31 4 .886 Booth
2. 2012 33 29 4 .879 Booth
2018 34 29 5 .853 Booth
2016 36 29 7 .806 Booth
5. 2015 36 27 9 .750 Booth
6. 2017 33 26 7 .788 Booth
7. 2019 31 25 6 .806 Booth
2014 34 25 9 .735 Booth
9. 2013 32 23 9 .719 Booth
10. 2006 31 21 10 .677 Booth
2007 31 21 10 .667 Booth
2010 31 21 12 .636 Booth
13. 2004 29 18 11 .621 Booth
2008 27 18 9 .667 Booth
2022 21 18 3 .857 Booth
Poll Position
A 10-0 start to BIG EAST play helped the Creighton Volleyball team ascend to a season-best 15th in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll. It's the best ranking for CU since being 14th on Jan. 26, 2021.
Creighton swept road matches at Villanova (Oct. 21) and Georgetown (Oct. 22) over the weekend to up its record to 18-3 overall, tying the best 21-match start in program history.
While CU climbed in the coaches poll, the Bluejay RPI fell two spots in the official NCAA RPI, where it is also No. 15.
League Streak Continues
Creighton has won each of its last 21 regular-season BIG EAST matches. That's the program's third-longest win streak in league play.
During CU's 21-match league win streak, the Bluejays have dropped just eight sets.
Since losing the third set to Butler on Nov. 7, 2021, Creighton has won 49 of its last 55 sets against league foes.
Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By League
31 Nov. 18, 2017 - Nov. 3, 2019 at Villanova, 3-0 BIG EAST
28 Oct. 31, 2015 - Sept. 30, 2017 at Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
21 Oct. 17, 2021- Present TBD BIG EAST
14 Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012 Never (left MVC) MVC
12 Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015 at Villanova, 3-2 BIG EAST
11 Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014 Seton Hall, 3-0 BIG EAST
11 Oct. 6-Nov. 12, 2017 at Villanova, 3-0 BIG EAST
9 Nov. 4, 2005-Sept. 30, 2006 Northern Iowa, 3-2 MVC
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. In 2021, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the tournament title.
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 (thru 10/25)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (9) 147 13 245 63
Marquette (8) 129 28 227 71
Xavier 90 68 142 136
Butler 86 74 153 133
Villanova (1) 79 81 150 131
St. John's (1) 78 82 170 130
Seton Hall (1) 70 89 142 149
DePaul 43 117 107 167
Georgetown 35 117 86 178
Providence* 24 120 91 160
Connecticut# 22 14 39 28
*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.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 162 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 28 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 Marquette (4), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (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 18-1 - 18-1
Connecticut 1-1 1-0 2-1
DePaul 19-0 1-0 20-0
Georgetown 18-0 - 18-0
Marquette 16-3 5-1 21-4
Providence 14-0 - 14-0
Seton Hall 13-3 2-0 15-3
St. John's 14-2 0-1 14-3
Villanova 15-3 3-0 18-3
Xavier 19-0 3-0 22-0
Total 147-13 15-2 162-15
Poll Road Ahead
Creighton has been ranked in each of the last 23 AVCA Top 25 polls. With little movement from week-to-week, however, CU is one of 19 teams to be ranked each of those polls, a group that includes Baylor, BYU, Creighton, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Washington, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 92 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll.
Schmitt A Ki Player
Kiana Schmitt entered the 2022 season with three career matches (of 60 played) with 10 or more kills, but the senior already has nine matches in double-figures this fall.
Schmitt had 10 kills on Aug. 26 vs. Wichita State, then rewrote her career-high with 12 kills one night later win at Wyoming. She then had 10 kills vs. No. 2 Nebraska on Sept. 7, 12 kills vs. Florida State and 11 more against Omaha. Schmitt had exactly a dozen kills for the fifth time in her career on Sept. 18th at Rice.
Schmitt reset her career-high with 16 kills vs. DePaul on Oct. 16.
Creighton is 34-4 all-time when Schmitt has six or more kills.
Block Record Falls
Creighton set a school-record for total blocks and block assists in its Oct. 16 win vs. DePaul.
Creighton's 22.0 blocks broke the record of 21.0 done twice before (in 2003 and 2012), and were the most by any BIG EAST team since 2018.
Creighton's 40 block assists were two more than the previous mark set in 2009 and 2012, and eight more than the previous mark for a five-set match done three times.
Individually, Kiana Schmitt's 13 total blocks were the most by a Bluejay since Kelli Browning in 2012, and tied for fifth-most ever by a Bluejay.
Most Total Blocks, Individual
17 Ashley Williams (3-14) vs. Wichita State (5s) 10-10-03
16 Ashley Williams (4-12) vs. Southern Illinois (5s) 9-19-03
15 Kelli Browning (0-15) vs. Tulsa (4s) 9-8-12
14 Jessica Houts (0-14) vs. Lipscomb (4s) 9-4-09
13 Laurel Sanford (1-12) vs. Southern Illinois (5s) 10-21-11
13 Kiana Schmitt (1-12) vs. DePaul (5s) 10-16-22
Most Total Blocks, Team
22 vs. DePaul (2-40) 10-16-22
21 vs. Southern Illinois (8-26) (5s) 9-19-03
21 vs. Tulsa (2-38) (4s) 9-8-12
20 vs. Lipscomb (1-38) (4s) 9-4-09
20 vs. Indiana State (3-34) (3s) 10-24-09
20 at Kansas (4-32) (5s) 9-19-12
Most Block Assists, Team
40 vs. DePaul (5s) 10-16-22
38 vs. Lipscomb (4s) 9-4-09
38 vs. Tulsa (4s) 9-8-12
36 vs. Southern Illinois (4s) 10-27-12
35 at Bradley (4s) 11-19-05
Whitten Eyes 500 Sets
Allison Whitten enters this weekend having appeared in 499 career sets, though the first 417 of those came at Morehead State from 2018-21.
By comparison, the only Bluejay in history to play in 500 or more sets was Lauren Smith, who appeared in a program-record 511 sets with the Jays from 2013-16. Last year Abby Bottomley completed her career with 517 sets played, including 403 at High Point.
101 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked this week for the 101st time in program history. That's 45th-most of all programs in NCAA history.
All 101 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 67-35 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won 18 of its last 25 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, at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign and at Omaha and UConn in 2022.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 17-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton's five victories in five-set matches this season ties a program record also done in 2003, 2011 and 2015.
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 31-4
2022 5-2 18-3
Total 82-63 525-334
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 357-11 (.970) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 300-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 226-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 115-1 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 17-203 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-104 (.126) under Booth.
One of those comebacks came on Oct. 7, 2022 at UConn, which was CU's first comeback win on the road in league play after trailing 0-2 since 2015. CU then overcame an 0-2 home deficit on Oct. 14, vs. No. 16 Marquette, the first such comeback against a ranked foe. Combined, the UConn and Marquette comebacks mark the first time in program history the team has posted multiple reverse sweeps in the same month.
Those 17 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
10/07/22 at UConn 25-15, 25-12, 15-13 Booth
10/14/22 #16 Marquette 25-19, 25-16, 15-8 Booth
Five For Fighting
Creighton won back-to-back five set home matches against Marquette and DePaul on Oct. 14 and Oct. 16. Incredibly, it was the first time in 10 years of regular-season BIG EAST play that Creighton had played back-to-back five setters in conference matches at any site.
The last time it happened was CU's final two league matches as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2012 when it won road matches at Wichita State and Missouri State.
Ironically, Creighton honored the league champion 2012 Volleyball team last weekend during its victory over Marquette.
Creighton had not won multiple five-set home matches on the same weekend since October of 2010 when it beat Missouri State and Wichita State on consecutive days.
Bouncing Back
The Creighton staff is quick to credit athletic performance coach Brad Schmidt for helping the team get stronger during the off-season and maintain that strength during the season.
Need evidence of that? Creighton has played seven five-set matches so far this season. Not only is Creighton 5-2 in five-setters this fall, but the Jays are also 7-0 this year in the contest after a five-setter.
Dating to last season, Creighton has won 12 straight matches following a five-set match and are 17-1 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
Didn't Have To Wait Long
Creighton sophomore Kendra Wait became the ninth player in program history to reach 2,000 career sets when she did so on Oct. 16 vs. DePaul.
Wait needed 54 matches to reach the milestone, sixth-fastest in program history. The five women ahead of her combined to win First Team All-Conference honors nine times.
Wait enters this weekend with 900 assists in 21 matches this season. Only two Bluejays have ever reached 1,000 assists within CU's first 22 matches of a season.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 2,000 Assists (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 43 09/22/06 Drake
Brittany Coleman 45 10/02/04 Southern Illinois
Kailey Reyes 49 09/01/00 at Iowa State
Lydia Dimke 52 10/13/17 Butler
Madelyn Cole 53 10/25/19 at Providence
Kendra Wait 54 10/16/22 DePaul
Megan Bober 55 11/05/10 at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee 66 09/15/96 at UMKC
Michelle Sicner 109 11/23/14 Seton Hall
Single-Season Matches to 1,000 Assists
Name MP Opponent Year
Korie Lebeda 21 at Drake 2006
Brittany Coleman 22 at Southern Illinois 2004
Korie Lebeda 23 Missouri State 2005
Brittany Coleman 23 Northern Iowa 2003
Kailey Reyes 23 at Southern Illinois 1999
Melissa Weisensee 23 at Evansville 1996
Kailey Reyes 24 at Wichita State 2000
Melissa Weisensee 24 at Evansville 1997
Kailey Reyes 25 Wichita State 2001
Korie Lebeda 25 Southern Illinois 2007
Korie Lebeda 26 Bradley 2008
Lydia Dimke 26 Xavier 2016
Madelyn Cole 26 at Seton Hall 2018
Megan Bober 27 Evansville 2010
Lydia Dimke 27 Georgetown 2017
Madelyn Cole 27 #9 Marquette 2019
Megan Bober 28 at Northern Iowa 2009
Megan Bober 28 at Wichita State 2012
Michelle Sicner 28 Xavier 2013
Kendra Wait 29 at Villanova 2021
Maggie Baumert 32 vs. Seton Hall 2014
Not Much Middle Ground
Of Creighton's last 15 matches, there's been seven five-set matches and seven sweeps. Only one of those contests has been exactly four sets.
Creighton is 5-2 this year in five-set matches, 4-1 in four-setters and 9-0 in sweeps.
Creighton is averaging 18.63 digs per set and 14.17 assists per set in contests to go five sets this season. Kiara Reinhardt his .349 in those matches, while Norah Sis averages 4.14 kills per set.
Each of Creighton's last 12 matches against Seton Hall have been 3-0 victories.
Creighton is 39-1 in its last 40 matches to last exactly three sets.
Hall Call
Megan (Bober) Varasteh entered the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 15th, at a banquet at Hilton Omaha.
Varasteh was part of the 54th class of inductees (along with Renae Sinkler-O'Gorman and Carol Ketcham) and gives the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame 94 inductees, plus the 1991 Creighton Baseball Team. The Athletics Hall of Fame started in 1968 with the induction of Bluejay great Bob Gibson.
Varasteh starred as a member of the Creighton Volleyball program from 2008-12, becoming the program's first player in earn AVCA All-America honors multiple times. She became the volleyball program's first woman named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as well as MVC Tournament MVP, helping the Bluejays to their first regular-season and conference tournament titles and a then-record 29 victories. She closed her career with a school-record 15 triple-doubles (second in MVC history) and as the only player in league history with at least 4,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 800 kills and 400 blocks.
She joined Melissa Walsh (2009), Korie Lebeda (2014) and Kelli Browning (2021) as the only Creighton Volleyball players to be inducted.
In addition to being named Creighton's Female Athlete of the Year, she was also recognized as the Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, repeated her spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team selection as a senior.
The last win of Bober's career was a 3-0 sweep over Marquette in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
A Hot Start
Creighton has tied its best start ever after 21 matches at 18-3. It's the fourth time it's done so, and third time in the past four years.
Before this year, Creighton also started 18-3 in 2012, 2019 and 2021.
Creighton's 2012 team started 29-3.
The 2019 squad improved to 19-3 with a win over Seton Hall, but lost its 23rd match.
Last year's team started 31-3.
Best in the BIG EAST
Marquette is 227-71 since the start of the 2013 season, but just 4-21 in that time against Creighton.
In other words, the Golden Eagles own a .160 winning percentage against Creighton (4-21) compared to a .817 mark (223-50) against everyone else.
No other team has beaten Marquette more than five times in the past decade (2013-22), with in-state rival Wisconsin (5) next-closest. Among BIG EAST teams, Xavier owns four wins to top those schools not named Creighton.
If you wanted to break it down to just the past five seasons, Marquette is 1-11 against Creighton (.083) and 109-13 (.893) against everyone else.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 163-38 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 17-22 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, 37 of Creighton's 67 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 254-30 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but two of its past 88 home matches over unranked teams and all but nine of its last 112 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 eight seasons (2015-22). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Creighton is 22-83 all-time against ranked teams and 12 of those top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (7) or Kentucky (5).
The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 17-22)
Home: 7-9 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
09/02/22 #17 Creighton #25 USC 3-1
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky #17 Creighton 1-3
09/07/22 #2 Nebraska #17 Creighton 2-3
10/14/22 #21 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-2
Welcome Back Jaela
Jaela Zimmerman made her 2022 debut on Sept. 30 when she checked in to serve set point in Creighton's 25-15 set one victory over Butler.
She made her second appearance on Oct. 8 on match point at Providence, and promptly dialed up her first ace of the season.
The pressure level upped a notch on Oct. 16 when she was inserted into the fifth set with the score tied at 7-all. She earned her first dig of the season immediately and served a 3-0 run as the Jays took the lead for good in the 15-11 win.
Zimmerman saw her first front row action of the season on Oct. 22 at Georgetown.
A two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and three-time All-BIG EAST selection, Zimmerman tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in Creighton's NCAA Tournament win vs. Ole Miss on Dec. 2, 2021 and underwent surgery five weeks later.
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won nine conference regular-season titles. All but one of Creighton's nine crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
Creighton has also won eight conference tournament titles since 2012, tied for the most in the nation with Dayton and Western Kentucky.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2021
Regular-Season League Tournament
9 (1 shared) Creighton 8 Creighton
9 (1) Texas 8 Dayton
9 (5) Western Kentucky 8 Western Kentucky
8 BYU 7 Fairfield
8 (1) Colorado State 6 LIU
8 Fairfield 6 American
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 10th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 86-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (79-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 70-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 64-1 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 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Jaela Zimmerman is 41-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 123-22 in sets played.
Defense Delivers
Creighton has had its way in the BIG EAST thanks to dominant defense in recent times.
Sixteen of CU's last 19 BIG EAST opponents have hit lower than .120.
The only team to hit better than .177 in that time was Marquette's .207 on Oct. 14.
Over the past 19 matches versus league opposition, Creighton opponents are hitting .097 (614-395-2250 in 64 sets) and averaging just 9.59 kills per set.
Date Opponent (CU Result) K-E-TA Pct.
10/30/21 at DePaul (W 3-0) 35-25-127 .079
11/05/21 Xavier (W 3-0) 35-14-119 .176
11/07/21 Butler (W 3-1) 45-30-177 .085
11/12/21 at Georgetown (W 3-0) 24-22-116 .017
11/13/21 at Villanova (W 3-0) 24-13-94 .117
11/19/21 Seton Hall (W 3-0) 16-20-87 -.046
11/21/21 St. John's (W 3-0) 25-22-105 .029
11/26/21 vs. DePaul (W 3-0) 33-24-102 .088
11/27/21 at Marquette (W 3-0) 34-24-121 .083
09/23/22 Georgetown (W 3-0) 18-12-98 .061
09/25/22 Villanova (W 3-0) 29-21-89 .090
09/28/22 Xavier (W 3-0) 24-18-101 .059
09/30/22 Butler (W 3-0) 32-19-120 .108
10/07/22 at UConn (W 3-2) 52-29-160 .144
10/08/22 at Providence (W 3-0) 25-14-99 .111
10/14/22 #16 Marquette (W 3-2) 59-21-184 .207
10/16/22 DePaul (W 3-2) 53-33-176 .114
10/21/22 at Villanova (W 3-0) 26-16-110 .091
10/22/22 at Georgetown (W 3-0) 25-18-85 .082
Down For The Count
Creighton has outscored teams 854-592 in league play this season and has allowed a BIG EAST opponent score more than 18 points in just 10 of the 36 sets that have been played.
Creighton has held Seton Hall to fewer than 20 points in 14 of the last 15 sets played.
20 At A Time For Sis
Norah Sis had 27 kills in a 3-2 win at UConn on Oct. 7, one shy of her career-high done in September in a 3-2 win vs. Florida State.
On Oct. 14 and 16 Sis had 21 kills vs. Marquette, then provided 22 more two days later vs. DePaul.
Sis is one of six players in program history with multiple matches of 25 or more kills. Her 10 career matches of 20 or more kills ranks tied for fifth.
Most Matches With 25+ Kills, Creighton Career
25+K Name Years
8 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
6 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
6 Jaali Winters 2015-18
3 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
2 Jessica Houts 2005-09
2 Norah Sis 2021-Present
1 Michelle Prorock 1994-96
1 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
1 Shelly Kapler 1996-99
1 Melanie Keolanui 1997-00
1 Kelly Goc 2004-07
1 Alicia Runge 2009-10
1 Keeley Davis 2019-Present
Matches With 20+ Kills, Career
20+K Name Years
23 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
20 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
18 Jaali Winters 2015-18
13 Kelly Goc 2004-07
10 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
10 Norah Sis 2021-Present
7 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
5 Jessica Houts 2005-09
5 Leah McNary 2011-14
Matches With 20+ Kills, Season
20+K Name Year
11 Leah Ratzlaff 2003
9 Leah Ratzlaff 2004
9 Jaali Winters 2015
8 Melissa Walsh 2000
7 Melissa Walsh 1999
6 Kelly Goc 2006
6 Jaali Winters 2016
6 Norah Sis 2022
5 Kelly Goc 2007
5 Taryn Kloth 2018
Wait, How Is That Possible?
Only 34 players in the nation average 10.60 assists per set. Of those 34, only Creighton's Kendra Wait averages more than 3.26 digs per set.
Wait is averaging 3.34 digs per set this fall.
Let's Get It Started
Creighton has won its first 10 league matches in 2022 and has now started 10-0 (or better) in league play in five of the past eight seasons.
During four of the previous seven seasons, Creighton started BIG EAST play 11-0 or better.
Year League Wins Before First Loss Lost To
2013 0 at Butler
2014 5 at Seton Hall
2015 11 at Villanova
2016 18 --
2017 4 at Marquette
2018 18 --
2019 12 at Villanova
2020 1 #25 Marquette
2021 2 at St. John's
2022 10 (so far) --
Set Streaks
How often had Creighton previously won each of its first 12 sets of a BIG EAST season before this year? How about never?
Only once previously had Creighton even won its first six sets in league play, and that came during the 2018 season where CU went 18-0 and dropped just 6-of-60 sets in league play all season. The most league sets won in a row to start a season had come in 2011, when Creighton won its first eight sets played. That team finished 12-6 in Missouri Valley Conference action.
Year Set Wins Before First Set Loss Set Lost To
2013 1 at Butler
2014 5 Butler
2015 1 Seton Hall
2016 4 DePaul
2017 2 Georgetown
2018 7 at Butler
2019 5 Georgetown
2020 1 #25 Marquette
2021 2 at Butler
2022 12 --
8 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
With its 2021 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win eight straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win eight or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball was picked to win the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Creighton earned 9-of-11 first place votes and 99 of a possible 100 points. That was just ahead of Marquette's 90 points and the other two votes for first place.
DePaul (72) was picked third, just ahead of UConn (71) and St. John's (66). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were Villanova (54), Butler (47), Xavier (42), Georgetown (25), Providence (25) and Seton Hall (14).
Creighton also had three women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait as well as unanimous selection Norah Sis. Sis was also tabbed the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 17 of 19 years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including nine 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 1st - -
2022 1st ??? ???
Wait Making History
Just nine days after she had 59 assists and 36 digs against Florida State, Kendra Wait had 56 assists and 24 digs on Sept. 18 at Rice.
Wait is the first Bluejay with a match of at least 50 assists and 20 digs in a match since Korie Lebeda in 2006, and first Bluejay since Kailey Reyes (in 1999) to post multiple matches of at least 50 assists and 20 digs in the same season.
No Creighton player has ever done it three times in the same season.
50 Assists, 20 Digs In A Match
A D Name Opp. Date
51 21 Melissa Weisensee at Wichita State (5s) 9/14/96
53 24 Melissa Weisensee at Indiana State (5s) 10/18/96
65 22 Melissa Weisensee at Evansville (5s) 11/8/97
55 28 Kailey Reyes Evansville (5s) 9/11/99
65 24 Kailey Reyes Illinois State (4s) 9/24/99
64 23 Kailey Reyes at Evansville (5s) 11/4/00
54 22 Brittany Coleman at Illinois State (4s) 10/18/03
62 21 Brittany Coleman at So. Illinois (4s) 10/29/04
71 20 Korie Lebeda at Evansville (5s) 11/18/06
59 36 Kendra Wait vs. Florida State (5s) 9/9/22
56 24 Kendra Wait at Rice (5s) 9/18/22
All That Jazz
Jazz Schmidt had just 25 kills in Creighton's first 10 matches of the season before she erupted for a season-high 17 kills on Sept. 18 at Rice.
Schmidt's 17 kills were the most by a left-handed Bluejay since Megan Bober owned 19 kills at Southern Illinois on Oct. 21, 2011.
Sis Swings Away
Norah Sis obliterated Creighton's school-record of 77 attack attempts in a match (held by Jaali Winters) when she had 93 swings in CU's 3-2 win vs. Florida State on Sept. 9.
Sis' 93 attacks are the most in the nation by a player this season.
More From Sept. 9
Creighton's 129 digs vs. Florida State were two shy of its school record and second-most in the nation this year for a single match. CU's only match with more was 131 vs. Illinois State on Oct. 13, 2000.
Creighton's 254 attack attempts rank as its second-most in program history. The only match with more came Oct. 14, 2000 vs. Indiana State (296).
Norah Sis' 28 kills vs. Florida State are tied for fourth-most in program history, and four away from Michelle Prorock's school record set in 1996.
Whitten Surpasses 2,000 Digs
Creighton libero Allison Whitten surpassed 2,000 career digs on Sept. 18 at Rice, as she had 24 digs on the afternoon.
The grad transfer had 1,823 digs in four seasons at Morehead State and leads CU with 330 digs this season, giving her 2,153 in her career.
By comparison, the top two women in digs at Creighton (only) are Brittany Witt (2,079 from 2016-19) and Kate Elman (2,054 from 2012-15).
Last year's Bluejay libero, Abby Bottomley, finished her career seventh in NCAA history with 2,711 career digs, though the first 2,158 digs came while at High Point from 2017-20.
Whitten has nine or more digs in all 21 contests this fall.
Attendance Update
Creighton enters the week ranked 10th nationally in total home attendance (30,073) and 12th in fans per home match (3,007).
Creighton has led the BIG EAST in average home attendance in every non-COVID year since joining the league.
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin opened her BIG EAST career with 10 kills (Sept. 23 vs. Georgetown), 11 kills (Sept. 25 vs. Villanova), 14 kills (Sept. 28 vs. Xavier) and 14 kills (Sept. 30 vs. Butler), helping her earn back-to-back BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades.
She was the first Bluejay freshman to open her BIG EAST career with four straight matches of 10 or more kills, and just the third in program history to do so in any conference.
Martin had her first career double-double vs. No. 16 Marquette when she had 18 kills and 12 digs on Oct. 14.
Allie Oelke did it in four straight matches in 2007 and JoDe Cieloha set the record that still stands with five straight matches in 1994. Both of those came in the Missouri Valley Conference.
CU Freshmen With 10+ Kills to Start League Play
Streak Name Year
5 JoDe Cieloha 1994
4 Allie Oelke 2007
4 Ava Martin 2022
3 Rachelle Von 1997
3 Melissa Walsh 1998
3 Jaali Winters 2015
2 Michelle Prorock 1994
2 Carolyn Decker 2004
2 Jessica Houts 2005
2 Melanie Jereb 2012
Historically Speaking
No. 17 Creighton hosted 15,797 fans on Sept. 7 against No. 2 Nebraska, setting a record for the largest regular-season volleyball-only crowd in NCAA history. The mark stood for all of nine days before Wisconsin hosted 16,833 fans for a match vs. Florida.
Here's a look at the top volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Of note, 13 of the top 14 figures of 11,000 or more have been in the state of Nebraska.
Largest Regular-Season Volleyball-Only Crowds in NCAA History
Att. Opponent, Result Date Site
16,833 Florida def. Wisconsin 9/16/22 Madison, WI
15,797 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/7/22 Omaha, NE
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 09/08/21 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
MVP Sis Also Picks Up BIG EAST Honor
In addition to being named MVP of the Rumble in the Rockies, Norah Sis also brought home BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolades on Aug. 29th.
The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year averaged 5.23 points, 4.91 kills, 2.27 digs and 0.36 blocks per set on .250 hitting.
The Papillion, Neb., product started her season with near-identical double-doubles on Friday in wins over Iowa State (17 kills, 10 digs, 1 assist) and Wichita State (15 kills, 10 digs, 1 block). The reigning VolleyballMag.com National Freshman of the Year then slammed 22 kills while adding five digs, three blocks and an ace in a 3-1 win at Wyoming to clinch the tournament title. Her 25.0 points against the Cowgirls were a career-best effort and helped her earned Tournament MVP honors for the second time in her young career.
Sis was honored as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week six times last season, when she was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, but this is her first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolade.
Sis Races Past 500, 600 & 700 Kills
Sophomore Norah Sis is one of the fastest players in CU history to 500, 600 and 700 career kills.
She now owns 764 career kills in 56 matches.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 500 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 34 12/04/15 vs. Coastal Carolina
Melissa Walsh 37 09/25/99 Indiana State
Norah Sis 40 09/03/22 #16 Kentucky
JoDe Cieloha 43 10/15/95 at Indiana State
Keeley Davis 43 03/28/21 Xavier
Amanda Cvejdlik 44 10/13/06 at Wichita State
Creighton's Quickest Players To 600 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Jaali Winters 41 09/03/16 at USC
Melissa Walsh 42 10/09/99 at Wichita State
Norah Sis 45 09/17/22 vs. Kansas State
Leah Ratzlaff 52 11/14/03 Illinois State
JoDe Cieloha 53 08/30/96 Murray State
Amanda Cvejdlik 53 11/17/06 at Southern Illinois
Creighton's Quickest Players To 700 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 49 11/06/99 Missouri State
Jaali Winters 50 09/25/16 DePaul
Norah Sis 53 10/14/22 #16 Marquette
Leah Ratzlaff 57 09/03/04 vs. Montana
JoDe Cieloha 61 09/14/96 at Wichita State
Alicia Runge 62 11/27/10 at Northern Iowa
Creighton's Quickest Players To 800 Kills (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 56 09/02/00 vs. UNCG
Jaali Winters 59 10/28/16 at Seton Hall
Leah Ratzlaff 64 09/14/04 at Iowa
JoDe Cieloha 68 10/11/96 Bradley
Jessica Houts 73 09/05/08 at Jacksonville St.
10 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make 10 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 10 NCAA Tournaments (2012-21). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 11 of the last 12 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 18th in the AVCA preseason poll. It's the eighth time in the past 10 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason.
The No. 18 slotting was tied for the fourth-best preseason ranking in program history.
Over the previous 14 seasons, 255-of-350 teams (72.9 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and since 2008 318-of-350 teams (90.9 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 11th straight season that CU has been ranked at least one week, extending a program record.
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final Rank
2013 25th 23-9 NR
2014 23rd 25-9 NR
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th 25-6 16th
2020 16th 12-4 NR
2022 18th TBD TBD
Jae-Z Plays The Hits
Jaela Zimmerman owns 997 kills, good for 15th in Creighton history. She stands just three kills of becoming the 15th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone. Zimmerman has played in 107 career matches.
Career Kills
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
11. Allie Oelke 445 1,126 2007-10
12. Kelli Browning 424 1,104 2011-14
13. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
14. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
15. Jaela Zimmerman 347 997 2018-Pr.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters 73 08/25/17 vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff 76 10/22/04 Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha 83 09/13/97 at Drake
Kelly Goc 87 11/24/06 vs Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts 90 11/08/08 Illinois State
Leah McNary 96 09/12/14 Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik 99 11/15/08 at Evansville
Shelly Kapler 103 11/18/99 vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth 103 08/31/18 vs. NC State
Allie Oelke 107 10/09/10 Wichita State
Kelli Browning 110 10/26/14 DePaul
Lauren Smith 119 10/07/16 at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson 120 09/30/17 at St. John's
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Sky McCune on Aug. 26 vs. Iowa State, Creighton has started 15 different true freshmen in its season opener since 2009, and 19 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), Norah Sis (2021) and Sky McCune (2022), 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 Kostelac (2019) and Mahina Pua'a (2020) in season-openers.
Ten of those women (Sis, Wait, 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, Davis was BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019 and Sis recognized as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2022.
Last 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. The 2012 and 2021 teams are the two winningest single-season teams in program history.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Morgan Colangelo, Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes was recognized as the nation's No. 24 class by PrepVolleyball.
Martin was listed as the nation's No. 47 recruit, while McCune was tabbed 52nd-best. Creighton now owns eight players on its 2022 roster who were Top 100 recruits.
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
47 2022 Ava Martin
52 2022 Sky McCune
* 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)
2022 24th (Colangelo, Martin, McCune, Remmes)
Dealing Up Aces
Keeley Davis had six aces on the opening weekend of the season, becoming the eighth player in CU history to reach century mark for her career.
Davis reached 100 career aces in her 82nd career contest, which ranks third-fastest in Bluejay history.
It's also worth noting that three of Davis' teammates entered the year having owned more than 100 career aces, though they've done so at other schools. Bethany Clapp owned 103 aces in 97 matches at Incarnate Word, Jazz Schmidt had 103 aces in 96 matches at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic and Allison Whitten had 103 aces in 115 contests at Morehead State.
Service Aces, Career
Name Sets No. Years
1. Molly Moran 341 145 1998-01
2. Keeley Davis 356 131 2019-Pr.
3. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
4. Brittany Witt 471 122 2016-19
5. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
6. Kate Elman 464 105 2012-15
7. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
8. Jaali Winters 494 101 2015-18
9. Madelyn Cole 225 93 2018-19
10. Carolyn Decker 300 89 2004-08
Creighton's Quickest Players To 100 Aces (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Molly Moran 73 08/31/01 vs. DePaul
Melissa Weisensee 77 11/01/96 Southern Illinois
Keeley Davis 82 08/26/22 vs. Wichita St.
JoDe Cieloha 85 09/06/97 at UNLV
Shelly Kapler 95 10/15/99 Bradley
Brittany Witt 107 10/05/19 Seton Hall
Kate Elman 120 11/15/15 Butler
Jaali Winters 135 11/17/18 Providence
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 364-33 (.917) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 68-149 (.313) 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 131-4 in its last 135 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 and on Sept. 3, 2022 to No. 16 Kentucky.
Creighton has gone 96-3 in its last 99 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to an 11-15 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 137-2 in its last 139 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Eleventh Heaven
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 11 NCAA Tournaments.
That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history, as she's tied former men's soccer coach Bob Warming atop that list.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 11
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
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 432-3 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
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Last season Creighton played four matches against 2020 NCAA Tournament qualifiers, going 3-1 against such teams.
This year's team owns eight matches (Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and CU is 4-3 against those foes to date.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 93-104 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
2022 4-3 so far
TOTAL 96-139
TOTAL Under Booth 93-104
Marian Pipeline
This is the 20th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as senior Emily Bressman keeps the streak alive.
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.
2022: Emily Bressman
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
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 432 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 10/27)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 618*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 432*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 387*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
League Opener Histories
Including its Sept. 23 sweep of Georgetown, Creighton owns a 21-8 record all-time in conference openers, including an 18-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 9-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, and nine straight wins.
Each of the previous nine times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 144-10 in regular-season league action. Creighton also won eight of the last nine conference tournament titles during those years, going 16-1 in those seasons.
In the 20 seasons that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owns a combined .767 (273-83) winning percentage (entering 2022) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Bluejays have had a losing record on five occasions and owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton is 24-5 overall and 18-2 under Booth, with 12 straight wins.
In league road openers, Creighton is 20-9 overall and 17-3 under Booth, with nine straight wins.
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 8-12 against ranked non-conference foes over the last five seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Creighton owned 12 non-conference wins last season to set a program record for a regular-season. It's actually also the first season with 10 wins prior to league play.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year Non-Con W-L vs. Ranked Non-Con Final W-L
2003 3-8 0-0 12-18
2004 8-2 0-1 18-11
2005 6-5 0-3 16-14
2006 8-3 0-1 21-10
2007 6-5 0-3 21-10
2008 3-5 0-3 18-9
2009 3-8 0-3 14-17
2010 5-5 0-1 21-12
2011 5-7 0-1 17-14
2012 9-2 0-1 29-4
2013 9-3 1-2 23-9
2014 7-6 0-5 25-9
2015 6-7 1-4 27-9
2016 6-6 0-4 29-7
2017 7-4 3-3 26-7
2018 8-4 1-3 29-5
2019 7-3 2-3 25-6
2020 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 31-4
2022 8-3 1-2 TBD
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters
From last year's team, only Abby Bottomley, Naomi Hickman, Eve Magill, Ally Van Eekeren, Annika Welty are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 511.8 of a possible 700% back (73.1 percent).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1,331 (87.4%) 192 (12.6%)
Kills 1,307 (80.2%) 323 (19.8%)
Points 1,627.0 (75.6%) 526.0 (24.4%)
Matches Started 154 (73.3%) 56 (26.7%)
Digs 1,460 (70.6%) 607 (29.4%)
Aces 128 (66.7%) 64 (33.3%)
Blocks 192 (58.0%) 139.0 (42.0%)
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 31-4 last season, won an eighth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and reached the Second Round while playing in its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Norah Sis was named a Third Team All-American by the AVCA and the National Freshman of the Year by VolleyballMag.com. Also named Honorable Mention All-American were Jaela Zimmerman and Kendra Wait.
CU's 31 victories were a school-record and included five tournament titles.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballAva Martin Highlights - 10/27/25
Monday, October 27
Annalea Maeder Highlights - 10/27/25
Monday, October 27
Creighton Volleyball Pink Out Recap vs. Seton Hall
Wednesday, October 22
Creighton Media Availability Volleyball - 10/21/25
Tuesday, October 21
