#14 Volleyball Hosts Auburn in NCAA Tourney Opener on Friday

2022 NCAA Volleyball Tournament • First Round
South Dakota vs. #23 Houston • Friday, Dec. 2 • 3:30 p.m. • Omaha, Neb.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | UH NOTES (PDF) | USD NOTES (PDF)

Match #32: Auburn at #14 Creighton • Friday, Dec. 2 • 6:30 p.m. • Omaha, Neb.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | AUBURN NOTES (PDF) |

This Week
For the fourth time since 2017 the Creighton Volleyball team is a national seed and will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
   Play gets underway on Friday, Dec. 2 at 3:30 p.m., when South Dakota (29-3) meets No. 23 Houston (28-3) in a battle of regular-season conference champions.
   Three hours later at 6:30 p.m., No. 14 Creighton (27-4) hosts at-large selection Auburn (21-8).
   The winners from the two matches on Friday will meet up on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., with a Sweet 16 bid at stake.
   D.J. Sokol Arena (2,500) in Omaha, Neb., will host the action.

How To Watch
All the NCAA Tournament matches from Omaha will be broadcast on ESPN+.
   Jake Eisenberg and Shannon Smolinski will call the action.
   To access ESPN+ programming, visit WatchESPN.com. A subscription fee and/or cable authorization may be required.

How To Listen
Creighton's match will also air on the radio on KZOT (1180 The Zone), with audio of the aforementioned webcast by Eisenberg and Smolinski being simulcast.
   The matches will not be audio webcast.

Live Stats Information
All matches of the NCAA Tournament will have free live stats. The link to each is also on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.

Scouting #14 Creighton
Ranked 14th nationally, Creighton is 27-4 this season after going 17-1 to clinch a share of a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title. CU avenged that lone league loss with a 3-2 win in the BIG EAST Tournament final over No. 14 Marquette on Nov. 26th. 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), at current No. 20 Rice (3-2 on Sept. 18) and to No. 16 Marquette (3-0 on Nov. 19).
   The Bluejays lost just nine sets in league play all season and haven't lost a set to a team that isn't Marquette since Oct. 16th.
   Creighton owns wins over a boatload of NCAA Tournament regulars, including No. 14 Marquette, No. 16 Marquette, No. 25 USC, Iowa State, Kansas State, Florida State, Northern Iowa and Wichita State.
   Sophomore OH Norah Sis (4.25 kps., 2.51 dps.) was named BIG EAST Player of the Year after a standout season that saw her top the BIG EAST in kills per set and points per set this year. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2021 and 2022 BIG EAST Tournament.
   Senior MB Kiana Schmitt owns 2.30 kills per set on .323 hitting and was named All-BIG EAST. She led all players with 74 blocks in BIG EAST action this fall.
   As if that wasn't enough, OH Ava Martin (2.38 kps.) has taken her game to another level in league play, hitting .309 and averaging 2.91 kills per set against conference competition to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Week accolades four times in addition to BIG EAST Freshman of the Year acclaim.
   Quarterbacking the Bluejay offense is sophomore S Kendra Wait (11.16 aps., 3.23 dps., .361%), a two-time all-BIG EAST choice.
   Other seniors to keep an eye on include libero Allison Whitten (2,269 career digs), OH Keeley Davis (CU record 148 aces) and RS/S Jazz Schmidt (.454 hitting % in league play). Davis has led the BIG EAST in aces per set each of the past two years.
   Creighton averages 14.47 kills, 1.59 aces, 16.69 digs and 2.07 blocks per set while hitting .270 as a team.

Scouting Auburn
Auburn is 21-8 on the season and in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time ever (2010). Auburn started this season 14-0, including an 11-0 non-conference mark, and finished 10-8 in Southeastern Conference play.
   The Tigers are led by a trio of attackers averaging over 3.00 kills per set -- Rebekah Rath (4.08 kps.), Akasha Anderson (3.60 kps.) and Madison Scheer (3.03 kps.).
   Jackie Barrett (10.10 aps.) directs the offense, while Sarah Morton (3.82 dps.) is the libero. Kendal Kemp ranks as one of the nation's top blockers, averaging 1.49 blocks per set.
   Anderson, Scheer and Kemp were all members of the SEC's All-Freshman Team.
   As a team, Auburn averages 12.47 kills, 1.54 aces, 12.84 digs and 2.55 blocks per set on .238 hitting.

Series History vs. Auburn
Creighton is 1-0 all-time against Auburn, earning a 3-0 sweep (30-25, 30-26, 30-16) victory at the Iowa State Heritage Classic in Ames on Aug. 30, 2003. The win was Kirsten Bernthal Booth's first victory on the Bluejay sideline.
   Katy Grady hit a then-CU record .750 in the victory, and Leah Ratzlaff had 18 kills. Auburn got seven kills each by Julie Bosler and Camila Lago, while Kristen Bertucci owned 13 digs.
   Booth is 1-1 against current Auburn coach Brent Crouch, splitting two match-ups when he was leading USC in 2018 and 2019. USC won a 3-2 match in Los Angeles in 2018 before Creighton won 3-1 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, a year later. In that 2019 meeting, Jaela Zimmerman had 10 kills and 13 digs, Keeley Davis owned 12 kills and an ace and Emily Bressman had three digs and a kill.

Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 441-183 record in her 20th season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to nine straight BIG EAST titles (2014-21), and 10 league crowns in the last 11 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 12 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history (including 2022). 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.

With a Win...
With a win on Friday, Creighton would...
- Improve to 13-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 10-2 mark in the First Round and a 4-3 mark as a host.
- Improve to 2-0 all-time against Auburn.
- Improve to 3-0 all-time against SEC schools in the NCAA Tournament.
- Improve to 28-4 on the season, the fifth-most single-season wins in team history.
- Win its 14th straight match inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
- Advance to play the South Dakota/Houston winner on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.

Creighton's NCAA Tournament History
Creighton is making its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past 13 years after earning an 11th straight bid to the Big Dance. The Bluejays made their NCAA debut in 2010 and have been in every tournament since then with the exception of 2011.
   The Bluejays are 12-11 in its first 11 appearances, and have knocked off the likes of Iowa State (2010 and 2019), Marquette (2012), Arkansas (2013), Coastal Carolina (2015 and 2017), No. 23 North Carolina (2015), Northern Iowa (2016), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 17 Michigan (2016), South Dakota (2018) and Ole Miss (2021).
   Creighton is 9-2 in First Round play, 2-7 in the Second Round, 1-1 in the Regional semifinals and 0-1 in the Regional finals. The Bluejays are 3-3 at home, 7-3 in neutral-site matches and 2-5 in true road matches.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 12-11 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is the only Bluejay head coach to lead the program into the postseason. Booth will be making her 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament as Creighton's coach, more than any other coach in any other Bluejay sport ever.

NCAA Tourney Streak
The NCAA Tournament run for Creighton men's soccer, as well as the inclusion of Creighton Volleyball into the 2022 NCAA Tournament, extended an impressive streak for Bluejay athletics.
   This year marks the 36th straight academic calendar year that Creighton has had at least one NCAA Tournament team.
   Only 11 schools made the NCAA Tournament in both women's volleyball and men's soccer this fall.
   The group includes Creighton, Fairleigh Dickinson, High Point, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Quinnipiac, San Diego, Stanford and Washington.
   Of those teams, only Creighton & Pittsburgh still have teams alive in both events.
   And Creighton, Kentucky, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Washington are the only schools with teams in both events each of the past two seasons.

Against NCAA Tournament Teams
Creighton went 6-4 against teams in the field of 64, including two victories vs. Marquette and one win each vs. Northern Iowa, Iowa State, USC and Florida State.
   Ole Miss went 3-6 against NCAA-bound squads, including wins over Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.
   In 10 matches this fall against NCAA Tournament teams, Norah Sis averaged 3.98 kills per set, Kendra Wait averaged 10.55 assists and 3.90 digs per set and Allison Whitten averaged 3.81 digs per set. The Jays hit .227 and averaged 13.98 kills, 1.19 aces, 17.90 digs and 1.67 blocks per set.
vs. NCAA Tournament Teams
Opponent   CU Score   Auburn Score
Iowa State   W 3-0   -
Florida State   W 3-2   -
Marquette   W 3-2   -
Marquette   L 0-3   -
Marquette   W 3-2   -
Nebraska   L 2-3   -
Northern Iowa   W 3-0   -
Rice   L 2-3   -
USC   W 3-1   -
Kentucky   L 1-3   L 0-3
Kentucky   -   L 0-3
Arkansas   -   L 0-3
Arkansas   -   L 0-3
Florida   -   L 0-3
Georgia   -   W 3-1
Georgia   -   W 3-2
LSU   -   L 2-3
Tennessee   -   W 3-1

Common Opponents
Creighton and Auburn share just one common opponent this season, Kentucky.
   Kentucky won a 3-1 decision in Omaha over Creighton, and swept a pair of 3-0 meetings with Auburn in Lexington.
Opponent   CU Score   Auburn Score
Kentucky   L 1-3   L 0-3
Kentucky   -   L 0-3

Seed Value
Creighton is a top 16 national seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the past eight seasons. Only 12 schools in the country can say that, as seen below:
   Rk.   School   Top 16 Seeds Since 2015
   1.   Minnesota   8
       Nebraska   8
       Texas   8
   4.   BYU   7
       Florida   7
       Penn State   7
       Wisconsin   7
   8.   Washington   6
       Kentucky   6
       Stanford   6
   11.   Creighton   5
       Baylor   5

SEC-ya!
Creighton opens the NCAA Tournament against an Auburn team that finished 10-8 in SEC play this fall.
   Including last year's NCAA Tournament win vs. Ole Miss, Creighton has won six of its last seven matches against teams from the SEC and are 12-5 under Booth against the SEC.

Seen This Movie Before
There's a lot of similarities between this year's bracket and last year. In both seasons...
   Creighton is a national seed, playing at home against an at-large team from the SEC.
   Last year's Ole Miss team opened its season 12-0, while this year's Auburn squad started 14-0.
   Both teams finished 10-8 in SEC action.
   Both teams ended long NCAA Tournament droughts. Last year Ole Miss made its first NCAA appearance since 2010. The 2010 season was also the last time Auburn made the field.

A Bunch of Winners
Creighton owns 58 wins during the last two seasons, tied with Louisville for the most in the country. Next-closest is Pittsburgh (57), Wisconsin (56) and Western Kentucky (56).
   The only teams with 27 or more wins each of the past two campaigns are Creighton, Pittsburgh, Western Kentucky and UCF.

Nation's Toughest Sub-Regional?
The records of the teams coming to Omaha this weekend certainly makes a strong case that it's the nation's toughest sub-Regional.
   The 105 combined wins between Creighton, Auburn, South Dakota and Houston are six more than any other site (Marquette hosts Ball State, Georgia Tech and Wright State).
   The 18 combined losses for the Creighton sub-Regional are part of a three-way tie for the fewest along with Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh hosts BYU, Colgate and James Madison) and Penn State (Penn State hosts UCF, UMBC and Yale).
   The winning percentage of the four teams (.854) is also the best of any site, topping the Pittsburgh sub-Regional (Pittsburgh hosts BYU, Colgate and James Madison).

Match That!
Only 10 teams in the nation own 27 or more wins, and three of them will be in Omaha this weekend.
   It's the only sub-Regional site with three 27-win teams, while nine of the 16 sites (Stanford, Oregon, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Nebraska, Minnesota, Louisville, Florida and Baylor) don't have a single team with 27 victories.
   Rank   W-L   School
   1.   29-1   Towson
       29-3   South Dakota
   3.   28-3   Houston
       28-3   Western Kentucky
       28-3   Wright State
   6.   27-1   San Diego
       27-1   UCF
       27-3   Pittsburgh
       27-4   Creighton

Setting The Pace
Only nine teams in the nation have won 86 or more sets, and three of them will be in Omaha this weekend.
   South Dakota leads the nation with 90 sets won. Houston is tied for fifth with 87 sets won, while Creighton is tied for seventh with 86 sets won. If you're curious, Auburn has won 68 sets.
   Rank   Sets Won   School
   1.   90   South Dakota
   2.   89   Wright State
       89   Drake
       89   Towson
   5.   87   UCF
       87   Houston
   7.   86   Creighton
       86   Marquette
       86   Western Kentucky

Tourney Veterans
Eight members on this year's Creighton team have previously played for the Bluejays in the NCAA Tournament. Jaela Zimmerman has played in four tournaments, Keeley Davis in three, Kiana Schmitt and Ellie Bolton in two, and Megan Skovsende, Kendra Wait, Kiara Reinhardt and Norah Sis in one each.
   Additionally, Allison Whitten was on the Morehead State team in the 2020 NCAA Tournament (held in the spring of 2021) that defeated Creighton.
   Last but not least, Jazz Schmidt played in the NCAA Tournament while at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic in both 2017 and 2021.
   Of those 10 women, all but Reinhardt have played in at least one NCAA Tournament victory.

Booth's Haul
With eight titles, Kirsten Bernthal Booth is one of two volleyball coaches in league history to win six or more BIG EAST Championship titles.
   The only other coach with six or more was Notre Dame's Debbie Brown (9).

BIG EAST Tournament Champions
Creighton Volleyball won the school's 10th different BIG EAST Tournament title for since joining the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013. All but two of those titles have been won by the volleyball program.
   Creighton (2022) joined Notre Dame (1996), Louisville (2010) and Marquette (2013) as the only programs to win the BIG EAST Tournament in men's soccer and women's volleyball in the same year.
Creighton's BIG EAST Tournament Titles (10)
Baseball (1): 2019
Men's Soccer (1): 2022
Volleyball (8): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022

All-BIG EAST Quartet
Four members of the Creighton Volleyball program have earned All-BIG EAST honors, with Norah Sis being selected as Player of the Year and Ava Martin recognized as Freshman of the Year.
   Sis joins Lydia Dimke (2016) and Jaali Winters (2018) as Creighton women named BIG EAST Player of the Year. Sis lived up to the hype as Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year as she led the league in kills per set (4.25) and points per set (4.65). The Papillion, Neb., product was a three-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and has single-match highs of 28 kills (vs. Florida State), 19 digs (vs. Florida State and at Rice) and nine blocks (vs. DePaul). Sis was also an All-BIG EAST selection in 2021, when she brought home Freshman of the Year accolades from the BIG EAST.
   Martin becomes Creighton's fourth BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, joining Jaali Winters (2015) as well as current teammates Keeley Davis (2019) and Norah Sis (2021). A four-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week this season, Martin ranked ninth in the BIG EAST in hitting percentage (.309) during league play and the Bluejays are 12-0 when the Overland Park, Kan., native owns eight or more kills.
   One of the league's most improved players, Kiana Schmitt earns her first All-BIG EAST plaudit after a huge season that saw her top the conference in BIG EAST play with 1.23 blocks per set and ranking fourth with a .361 hitting percentage. Creighton is 20-0 all-time when the senior owns four or more blocks and 42-5 when the Waunakee, Wis., middle blocker generates six or more kills. The two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week this fall had her best match in a 3-2 win vs. DePaul when she finished with career-highs of 16 kills and 13 blocks.
   Kendra Wait was named All-BIG EAST for the second straight season after once again leading the BIG EAST in assists per set. The Gardner, Kan., native is the nation's only player averaging at least 11.00 assists and 3.00 digs per set. Wait leads the Bluejays with 18 double-doubles this fall.
   This year marks the 10th time in as many years as a member of the BIG EAST that Creighton has had multiple all-conference selections, and eighth straight season with three or more First Team selections.

Back For More (Awards)
After earning a similar honor last fall, Norah Sis was named Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Championship in 2022 as well. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by fellow Bluejays Ava Martin and Kendra Wait.
   No player had been named Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Championship multiple times since Creighton's Jaali Winters (2016, 2018), and no player had won the award in back-to-back seasons since Notre Dame's Jaimie Lee in 1996 and 1997.

Nine In A Row
Creighton clinched a share of its ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title on Nov. 18 with a win at DePaul.
   With its 2022 title, Creighton became the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win nine 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 nine or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).

Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 10 conference regular-season titles (including 2022). All but two of Creighton's nine crowns (including 2022) were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
   Creighton has also won nine conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2022
Regular-Season   League Tournament
10 (2 shared) Creighton   9 Creighton
10 (1) Texas   8 Dayton
10 (5) Western Kentucky   8 Western Kentucky
9 Fairfield   7 Fairfield
8 BYU   6 American
8 (1) Colorado State   6 LIU

The. Best.
No matter how you slice it, Creighton and Marquette have dominated BIG EAST Volleyball since 2013.
Stat   CU   MU   Everyone Else
BIG EAST Reg.-Season Titles   9   3   0
BIG EAST Play Win Percentage   .917   .830   .408
BIG EAST Tourney TItles   8   1   1
BIG EAST Player of the Year   3   5   3
BIG EAST Libero of the Year   2   0   8
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year   4   3   4
BIG EAST Coach of the Year   3   2   5
AVCA All-Americans*   6   2   0
AVCA H.M. All-Americans   14   7   14
AVCA Region Freshman of Year   3   1   2
AVCA Region Coach of Year   3   0   2
CoSIDA Academic All-Americans   5   3   0
*First/Second/Third Teams only

Thorn In Marquette's Side
Marquette is 235-72 since the start of the 2013 season, but just 5-22 in that time against Creighton.
   In other words, the Golden Eagles own a .185 winning percentage against Creighton (5-22) compared to a .822 mark (231-50) 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 2-12 against Creighton (.143) and 117-13 (.900) against everyone else.

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 both 2021 and 2022, 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 league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings Since 2013 (thru 11/28)
             BIG EAST only   All   matches
Team (NCAA Bids)   W   L   W   L
Creighton (9)   154   14   254   64
Marquette (8)   137   28   236   72
Xavier   97   69   150   138
Butler   90   78   157   138
Villanova (1)   84   84   155   134
St. John's (1)   79   89   171   138
Seton Hall (1)   71   96   143   156
DePaul   45   123   109   173
Georgetown   35   125   86   186
Connecticut#   27   17   45   32
Providence*   27   125   94   165
*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.

The Avengers
During its nine-year run of BIG EAST Tournament titles from 2014-22, Creighton has just 10 regular-season losses. In nearly every case, Creighton would avenge that loss with a league tournament victory over the opponent that beat them previously.
   This year's Creighton team owned one league loss, and avenged that loss against Marquette in the final.
Date   Loss   Tourney Rematch Result
10/10/14   at Seton Hall
11/23/14   Seton Hall   W 3-1
10/30/15   at Villanova   W 3-0
10/05/17   at Marquette   W 3-2
11/17/17   at Villanova   W 3-0
11/08/19   at Villanova   Didn't Meet
02/06/20   Marquette   W 3-1
10/01/21   at St. John's   Didn't Meet
10/16/21   at Connecticut   Didn't Meet
11/19/22   at #16 Marquette   W 3-2

Not One, Not Two...
With a win last Saturday, Creighton became the sixth different program to win three straight league tournament titles.
   The others to do it:
3 Straight BIG EAST Tourney Titles
   1988-94   Pittsburgh
   1995-98   Notre Dame
   2000-02   Notre Dame
   2008-10   Louisville
   2014-18   Creighton
   2020-22   Creighton

JZ Wins Again
Jaela Zimmerman tied a school record last Saturday when she played in her fourth BIG EAST Tournament title match victory.
   She is the fifth Bluejay to play in four conference tournament championship wins, joining Marysa Wilkinson (2014-17), Jaali Winters (2015-18), Taryn Kloth (2015-18) and Naomi Hickman (2017-18, 2020-21).
   Creighton has won each of the past 21 matches that Zimmerman has appeared in.

No Slump Here
Norah Sis and Kendra Wait were two of the nation's best freshmen last year, and showed no sign of a sophomore slump this fall.
   Sis finished last season with 435 kills. With 40 kills last weekend, she now owns 459 kills. That ranks sixth-most in CU single-season history, and trails only Leah Ratzlaff (479 in 2004) for the most ever by a Bluejay sophomore.
   Wait had 1,213 assists last season, which ranked 10th most in CU single-season history. This year she owns 1,272 assists, tied for eighth-most in program history.

Home Sweet Home
Creighton has won 13 straight matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena since falling to No. 16 Kentucky on Sept. 3rd.
   Last year Creighton had a streak of 18 straight wins inside D.J. Sokol Arena snapped in the NCAA Tournament by Kansas.

D.J. Sokol Arena Records Fall
Three different current Bluejays own D.J. Sokol Arena season or career records.
   Keeley Davis owns the career mark for service aces (66), 13 more than the previous mark held by Kate Elman.
   Norah Sis owns the career mark for both kills per set (4.09) and points per set (4.57), just ahead of Jaali Winters (3.86 kps., 4.24 pps.) in both categories.
   Kendra Wait is tied for the single-season arena record with 588, matching Madelyn Cole's output in 2018 in an identical 53 sets played.
   This year is the 14th season of D.J. Sokol Arena, which opened in 2009 and has hosted 195 Bluejay matches.

Not A Freshman Anymore
The season-high 22 kills by Creighton's Ava Martin last Saturday were the most by a freshman in the BIG EAST Tournament final since Louisville's Lola Arslanbekova had 25 vs. Cincinnati in 2009.
   Martin is Creighton's fourth BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. The other three all stepped up in their NCAA Tournament debuts.
   Jaali Winters (2015) had 20 kills and 10 digs in a 3-1 win vs. Coastal Carolina. Keeley Davis (2019) had 15 kills and hit .448 in a 3-0 win vs. Iowa State. Norah Sis (2021) had 16 kills and 10 digs on .444 hitting in a 3-0 win vs. Ole Miss.

Break Out The Brooms
Prior to a Nov. 19th 3-0 loss at Marquette, Creighton had won 29 straight sets over the course of 33 days.
   It was the longest streak of sets won in program history, four more than the previous high. Three of CU's longest eight sets won streaks have now been snapped by Marquette.
Consecutive Sets Won
   Set Wins   Dates   Snapped By
   29   Oct. 16, Nov. 18, 2022   at #16 Marquette
   25   Oct. 22-Nov. 20, 2016   Villanova
   25   Oct. 26-Nov. 23, 2018   #16 Marquette
   22   Nov. 7-Dec. 2, 2021   Kansas
   19   Oct. 12-Nov. 3, 2019   at Villanova
   15   Oct. 7-21, 2016   at Marquette
   15   Sept. 28-Oct. 13, 2018   at Villanova
   15   Sept. 11-24, 2021   at Butler

Top 25 History
Creighton is 172-39 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 18-23 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, 38 of Creighton's 68 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 262-30 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but two of its past 93 home matches over unranked teams and all but nine of its last 120 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 23-84 all-time against ranked teams and 13 of those top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (8) 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 18-23)
Home: 8-9   Away: 5-8    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
11/19/22   #16 Marquette   #11 Creighton   0-3
11/26/22   #15 Creighton   #14 Marquette   3-2

Block Record Falls
Creighton set a school-record for total blocks and block assists the last time it met DePaul on Oct. 16.
   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

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 171 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 (5), 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   2-1   1-0   3-1
DePaul   20-0   1-0   21-0
Georgetown   18-0   -   18-0
Marquette   16-4   6-1   22-5
Providence   15-0   -   15-0
Seton Hall   15-3   2-0   17-3
St. John's   16-2   0-1   16-3
Villanova   15-3   3-0   18-3
Xavier   19-0   4-0   23-0
Total   154-14   17-2   171-16

X Marks The Spot
Creighton owns 23 straight matches against Xavier, its best streak against any team.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
   Wins   Opponent   Dates
   23   Xavier   2013-Present
   21   DePaul   2013-Present
   19   Southern Illinois   2003-11
   19   Georgetown   2013-Present
   18   Butler   2013-Present
   16   Indiana State   2005-Present

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 that 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.

Depth, Depth and More Depth
Only nine active players throughout the 11-team BIG EAST have at least 800 career kills, 500 career digs and 100 career blocks, and five of those women are Creighton Bluejays.
800 Kills, 500 Digs, 100 Career Blocks, BIG EAST
Name, School   Kills   Digs   Blocks
Rachele Rastelli, SJU   1,843   608   401
Caylee Parker, UConn   1,705   1,221   210
Bethany Clapp, CU   1,214   879   165
Brooklyn Cink, XU   1,115   730   225
Jazz Schmidt, CU   1,019   733   210
Jaela Zimmerman, CU   1,000   796   165
Keeley Davis, CU   961   838   155
Jasmine Davis, UConn   897   830   151
Norah Sis, CU   894   614   116

Streak Reached 17
Before Nov. 19th, Creighton had won 17 straight matches, its 10th double-digit winning streak since 2012. The win streak was tied for the third-longest in program history.
   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
   17   Sept. 23 - Nov. 18, 2022   at #16 Marquette, 3-0
   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

Spectacular Sis
Norah Sis owns 10 or more kills in each of CU's last 14 matches. That ranks tied for fifth-longest in program history, but just one-quarter of the way to Leah Ratzlaff's Beamonesque record.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Kills
   58   Leah Ratzlaff, Sept. 13, 2003-Sept. 9, 2005
   21   Jaali Winters, Oct. 6, 2015 - Aug. 28, 2016
   19   JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 26-Nov. 21, 1997
   18   Jaela Zimmerman, Nov. 16, 2019 - March 27, 2021
   14   Kelly Goc, Sept. 8-Oct. 19, 2007
   14   Norah Sis, Oct. 7, 2022-Present
   13   JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 7-Oct. 18, 1996
   13   Jaali Winters, Nov. 12, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017
   12   Amanda Cvejdlik, Aug. 25-Sept. 19, 2006

Seniors Leading The Way
Creighton recognized seniors Emily Bressman, Bethany Clapp, Keeley Davis, Jazz Schmidt, Allison Whitten and Jaela Zimmerman following its Nov. 13th win vs. Seton Hall.
   Clapp (Incarnate Word), Schmidt (Palm Beach Atlantic) and Whitten (Morehead State) are all graduate transfers in their first year in the Bluejay program.
   Bressman has missed all of this season due to injury but owns 38 kills, 138 digs and four aces in her career as a defensive specialist and outside hitter.
   Davis is a two-time All-Region and All-BIG EAST selection who burst onto the scene in 2019 as the league's Freshman of the Year. She owns 961 kills, 838 digs and ranks first in CU history with 148 aces.
   Zimmerman is a three-time All-BIG EAST choice, two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and a four-time event MVP. She enters this weekend with 1,000 kills, 796 digs and 77 aces.
   All told, the group has combined for 5,653 digs, 4,251 kills, 2,010 assists, 695 blocks and 557 service aces at the collegiate level.

Attendance Update
Creighton enters the week ranked 12th nationally in total home attendance (39,152) and 16th in fans per home match (2,447).
   Creighton has led the BIG EAST in average home attendance in every non-COVID year since joining the league.
   Creighton's 39,152 home fans this fall are already second-most in program history. The 2,447 fans per home match are also second-most ever.
Most Home Fans, Season
   Rk.   Fans   Dates   Year
   1.   47,632   17   2018
   2.   39,152   16   2022
   3.   30,211   14   2021
   4.   29,905   18   2015
   5.   25,615   13   2019

Highest Home Attendance Average, Season
   Average Rk.   Fans   Dates   Year
   1.   2,802   47,632   17   2018
   2.   2,447   39,152   16   2022
   3.   2,158   30,211   14   2021
   4.   1,970   25,615   13   2019
   5.   1,873   24,346   13   2017

Come On Down
Large crowds are expected at D.J. Sokol Arena this weekend. While the top seven home crowds in program history have occurred at CHI Health Center Omaha, D.J. Sokol Arena has also attracted 32 crowds of 2,000 or more.
Largest Home Crowds, Creighton History
   Att.   Opponent   Date   CU Result   Facility
   15,797   #2 Nebraska   09/07/22   L 2-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   14,022   #7 Nebraska   09/06/18   L 2-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   13,081   #18 Cal Poly   09/02/07   L 0-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   12,112   #1 Nebraska   09/24/06   L 1-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   11,279   #3 Nebraska   f09/08/21   L 0-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   10,131   #4 Nebraska   09/15/15   L 0-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   8,037   #2 Nebraska   10/05/08   L 0-3   CHI Health Center Omaha
   2,578   #13 Kentucky   09/01/17   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,552   South Dakota   11/30/18   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,517   Coastal Carolina   12/01/17   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,514   #7 Nebraska   08/31/10   L 0-3   Sokol
   2,509   #22 Washington   12/01/18   L 0-3   Sokol
   2,504   #9 Marquette   11/22/19   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,415   #12 Michigan St.   12/02/17   L 1-3   Sokol
   2,389   Kansas   12/03/21   L 1-3   Sokol
   2,351   Ole Miss   12/02/21   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,325   Northern Iowa   10/05/12   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,290   Iowa State   09.07/18   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,285   Texas Tech   08/28/09   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,242   #16 Marquette   11/24/18   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,241   #21 Marquette   09/23/18   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,225   Georgetown   11/09/18   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,222   Marquette   11/04/17   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,206   Xavier   10/18/18   W 3-2   Sokol
   2,195   Seton Hall   10/05/18   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,194   Wyoming   09/21/19   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,135   Bradley   10/14/11   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,134   Nebraska-Omaha   09/13/19   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,113   #25 USC   09/02/22   W 3-1   Sokol
   2,109   Marquette   10/13/13   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,084   #18 USC   09/02/17   L 0-3   Sokol
   2,073   Seton Hall   11/03/19   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,067   Villanova   11/21/14   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,064   Villanova   09/27/19   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,054   #16 Marquette   10/14/22   W 3-2   Sokol
   2,041   DePaul   09/21/18   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,037   #14 Marquette   11/26/22   W 3-2   Sokol
   2,013   Villanova   11/23/18   W 3-0   Sokol
   2,006   Butler   10/18/19   W 3-0   Sokol

Decade of Dominance
Ten years in the BIG EAST gives Creighton a pretty good set of data to compare its yearly performance in league matches. Here's how the 2022 campaign compares to previous seasons:
Creighton's Year-By-Year BIG EAST Stats
Year   W-L   KPS   HIT%   SAPS   DPS   BPS
2013   12-4   13.75   .213   1.00   16.20   3.13
2014   16-2   14.89   .242   1.30   17.09   2.86
2015   17-1   15.02   .271   1.33   16.97   2.47
2016   18-0   15.37   .317   1.69   16.08   2.41
2017   16-2   14.81   .302   1.31   16.62   2.05
2018   18-0   14.45   .294   2.13   15.67   2.38
2019   17-1   14.61   .269   2.07   15.80   2.25
2020   7-1   12.93   .249   1.30   14.17   2.75
2021   16-2   13.95   .242   1.82   18.02   2.86
2022   17-1   14.80   .299   1.85   16.10   2.33

Sis Is Rolling
Sophomore Norah Sis owns 459 kills this season and 894 in her career.
   The 894 kills is second-most ever by a Bluejay in their first two seasons, trailing only Jaali Winters' 994.
   The 459 kills this season ranks second-most ever by a Bluejay sophomore. That record of 516 is held by Leah Ratzlaff.
Most Kills, After 2 Seasons at Creighton
   Kills   Yr1   Yr2   Name   Year
   994   546   448   Jaali Winters   2015 & 2016
   844   435   459   Norah Sis   2021 & 2022
   769   341   428   Melissa Walsh   1998 & 1999
   733   270   463   Alicia Runge   2009 & 2010 (Jr. & Sr.)
   696   180   516   Leah Ratzlaff   2002 & 2003
   653   267   386   Jessica Houts   2005 & 2006
   640   225   415   Amanda Cvejdlik   2005 & 2006

Most Kills, Creighton Sophomores
   Kills   Name   Year
   516   Leah Ratzlaff   2003
   459   Norah Sis   2022
   448   Jaali Winters   2016
   428   Melissa Walsh   1999
   415   Amanda Cvejdlik   2006
   390   Taryn Kloth   2016
   386   Jessica Houts   2006
   376   Leah McNary   2012
   350   Kelli Browning   2012

No Losers Here
Currently 27-4, Creighton has been nearly as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
   Creighton, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Texas, Towson, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.
   If you go back two years more, the nation's only teams to lose six times or less in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons are BYU, Creighton, Pittsburgh and Texas.

President Elect Booth
Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth has been voted the President-Elect of the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
   Booth will begin her service on January 1, 2023 then become AVCA President in 2024. She will join the 17-member AVCA Board of Directors, which includes elected representatives, appointed voting members for Diversity Development and Legislation, and non-voting members for Education and Awards.
   Booth will serve as President-Elect in 2023, be President in 2024 and 2025, and then finish out her term as Past President in 2026.
   Booth is in her 20th season as the head women's volleyball coach at Creighton.

Putting The 0 In October And November
Creighton finished the month of October with a perfect 8-0 record, which included five sweeps and three 3-2 victories.
   It's the fourth time in the past six fall seasons that Creighton has been unbeaten in October.
   All told since October of 2014 Creighton is 65-5 in the 10th month of the year.
   Creighton's been awfully good in the month of November too. Since the start of 2014, CU is 61-5 in the 11th month of the year.
   Creighton has won 37 straight October home matches (since 10/15/11) and 33 consecutive home matches in November (since 11/23/14).

20/20 Vision
Creighton earned its 10th season of 20 or more wins in the past 11 seasons with a 3-0 win at St. John's on Oct. 30th. The only exception in that span was the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season (when CU only played 16 matches).
   All 13 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.   2022   31   27   4   .871   Booth
       2015   36   27   9   .750   Booth
   7.   2017   33   26   7   .788   Booth
       2019   31   25   6   .806   Booth
       2014   34   25   9   .735   Booth
   10.   2013   32   23   9   .719   Booth
   11.   2006   31   21   10   .677   Booth
       2007   31   21   10   .667   Booth
       2010   31   21   12   .636   Booth
   14.   2004   29   18   11   .621   Booth
       2008   27   18   9   .667   Booth

League Streak Reached 28
Before its Nov. 19 loss at No. 16 Marquette, Creighton had won 28 consecutive regular-season BIG EAST matches. That tied the program's second-longest win streak ever in league play.
   During CU's 28-match league win streak, the Bluejays won 84-of-92 sets.
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
   28   Oct. 17, 2021- Nov. 18, 2022   at #16 Marquette, 3-0   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

Dealing Up Aces
Keeley Davis had nine aces in the final regular-season home weekend of her career (Nov. 11-13), helping her break a 21-year old school record for career aces that had been held by Molly Moran.
   Davis reached 100 career aces in her 82nd career contest on Aug. 26 vs. Wichita State, which ranks third-fastest in Bluejay history.
   Davis is the first player in Creighton history with multiple seasons of 50 or more service aces.
   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.   Keeley Davis   378   148   2019-Pr.
   2.   Molly Moran   341   145   1998-01
   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

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 12 matches in double-figures this fall.
   Schmitt owns a career-high with 16 kills vs. DePaul on Oct. 16.
   Creighton is 42-5 all-time when Schmitt has six or more kills. CU is also 20-0 all-time when she owns four or more blocks.

Poll Road Ahead
Creighton has been ranked in each of the last 29 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 98 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll.

106 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked this week for the 106th time in program history. That's 43rd-most of all programs in NCAA history.
   All 106 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.

Whitten Passes 500 Sets
Allison Whitten enters this weekend having appeared in 531 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.

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 445 digs this season, giving her 2,269 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 seven or more digs in all 31 contests this fall.

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 eight five-set matches so far this season. Not only is Creighton 6-2 in five-setters this fall, but the Jays are also 7-0 this year in the contest after a five-setter heading into Friday.
   Dating to last season and entering Friday, 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.

Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 68-35 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 18-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
   Creighton's six victories in five-set matches this season breaks the program record of five previously 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   6-2   27-4
Total   83-63   534-335

2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 365-11 (.971) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 308-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 232-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 120-1 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 17-204 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-105 (.125) 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

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 reached 1,000 assists this season on Nov. 4 in CU's 24th match of the fall.
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
Kendra Wait   24   Providence   2022
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 25 matches, there's been eight five-set matches and 16 sweeps. Only one of those contests has been exactly four sets.
   Creighton is 6-2 this year in five-set matches, 4-1 in four-setters and 16-1 in sweeps.
   Creighton is averaging 18.48 digs per set and 14.25 kills per set in contests to go five sets this season. Kiara Reinhardt hits .346 in those matches, while Norah Sis averages 4.20 kills per set and Kendra Wait averages 11.05 assists and 3.97 digs per set.
   Creighton is 46-2 in its last 48 matches to last exactly three sets.

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 and earned her first kill of 2022 on Oct. 28 at Seton Hall, the 998th of her career.
   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.

Jae-Z Plays The Hits
Jaela Zimmerman owns 1,000 kills, good for a tie for 14th in Creighton history. She reached the milestone in her 111th career match on Nov. 13 on her Senior Day vs. Seton Hall.
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
       Jaela Zimmerman   357   1,000   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
Jaela Zimmerman   111   11/13/22   Seton Hall
Lauren Smith   119   10/07/16   at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson   120   09/30/17   at St. John's

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 92-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (83-3 in the regular-season, 9-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
   Since November of 2014, Creighton is 76-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 68-1 league mark and a 8-0 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 47-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 141-24 in 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.

Down For The Count
Creighton outscored teams 1,443-1,031 in league play this season and allowed a BIG EAST opponent score more than 18 points in just 20 of the 60 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. More recently, she had 20 kills at St. John's on Oct. 30 in just three sets and 23 kills in the BIG EAST Tournament final vs. No. 14 Marquette.
   Sis is one of six players in program history with multiple matches of 25 or more kills. Her 12 career matches of 20 or more kills ranks fifth-most.
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
   12   Norah Sis   2021-Present
   10   JoDe Cieloha   1994-97
   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
   8   Norah Sis   2022
   7   Melissa Walsh   1999
   6   Kelly Goc   2006
   6   Jaali Winters   2016
   5   Kelly Goc   2007
   5   Taryn Kloth   2018

Wait, How Is That Possible?
Only 17 players in the nation average 11.00 assists per set. Of those 17, only Creighton's Kendra Wait averages more than 3.00 digs per set.
   Wait is averaging 11.16 assists and 3.23 digs per set this fall.

Let's Get It Started
Creighton won its first 17 league matches in 2022 and has now started 11-0 (or better) in league play in five of the past eight seasons.
    During five of the last eight 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   17   at #16 Marquette

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   --

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   T-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. On Nov. 26th, she had a career-high 60 assists as well as 20 digs in a 3-2 win vs. No. 14 Marquette.
   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 ever to post three matches of at least 50 assists and 20 digs 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
60   20   Kendra Wait   #14 Marquette (5s)   11/27/22

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 third-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.

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

15,797 Fans!
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

Sis Races Past 500, 600, 700 & 800 Kills
Sophomore Norah Sis is one of the fastest players in CU history to 500, 600, 700 and 800 career kills.
   She's got 894 kills in 64 matches and could become the second-fastest ever to 900 this week.
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
Norah Sis   59   11/04/22   Providence
Leah Ratzlaff   64   09/14/04   at Iowa
JoDe Cieloha   68   10/11/96   Bradley

Creighton's Quickest Players To 900 Kills (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Melissa Walsh   63   09/29/00   at Bradley
Jaali Winters   68   11/26/16   vs. Xavier
Leah Ratzlaff   70   10/01/04   Evansville
JoDe Cieloha   76   11/09/96   at Bradley
Jessica Houts   80   10/03/08   Drake

11 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 11 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
   The only other sport in Creighton history to make 11 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 11 NCAA Tournaments (2012-22). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
   There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 12 of the last 13 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 340-of-375 teams (90.7 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (including 2022), as all but No. 12 UCLA, No. 17 Illinois and No. 22 Utah reached the 2022 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

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.
   Eleven of those women (Martin, 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, Sis recognized as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2021 and Martin named 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)

Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 372-33 (.919) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 69-150 (.315) 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 136-4 in its last 140 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 104-3 in its last 107 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to an 12-16 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
   Creighton has gone 145-2 in its last 147 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 12 NCAA Tournaments. That's more than any other coach in Creighton history.
Name   Sport   NCAA's @CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth   Volleyball   12
Bob Warming   Men's Soccer   11
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Greg McDermott   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7
Elmar Bolowich   Men's Soccer   6

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 has played nine matches so far (Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette 3x) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and CU is 5-4 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 94-105 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   5-4 so far
TOTAL   97-140
TOTAL Under Booth   94-105

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

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 441-3 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

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 441 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport   Victories (thru 11/28)
Brent Vigness, Softball   819
Ed Servais, Baseball   618*
Mary Higgins, Softball   564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis   498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball   441*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball   392*
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.
   Including 2022, each of the last 10 times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 161-11 in regular-season league action. Creighton also won nine of the 10 conference tournament titles (including 2022) during those years, going 18-1 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 .775 (290-84) winning percentage (including 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%)

#14 Volleyball Hosts Auburn in NCAA Tourney Opener on Friday

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Players Mentioned

Ellie Bolton

Abby Bottomley

Emily Bressman

Bethany Clapp

Morgan Colangelo

Keeley Davis

Naomi Hickman

Eve Magill

Ava Martin

Sky McCune

Kiara Reinhardt

Ann Marie Remmes

Jazz Schmidt

Kiana Schmitt

Norah Sis

Megan Skovsende

Ally Van Eekeren

Kendra Wait

Annika Welty

Allison Whitten

Jaela Zimmerman