Friday, September 2
Omaha, Neb.
7:30 PM
Creighton University
vs
USC
#17 Volleyball Returns Home To Host Bluejay Invitational
8/30/2022 1:57:00 PM | Volleyball
Elite tournament features three ranked teams in addition to perenially strong UNI
Bluejay Invitational Presented by Hilton Omaha
Matches played at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
Northern Iowa vs. #25 USC • Friday, Sept. 2 • 10:30 a.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | UNI AUDIO | UNI NOTES | USC NOTES |
#16 Kentucky vs. Northern Iowa • Friday, Sept. 2 • 5:00 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | UNI AUDIO | UK NOTES | UNI NOTES |
Match #4: #25 USC at #17 Creighton • Friday, Sept. 2 • 7:30 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | CU NOTES | USC NOTES |
Match #5: #16 Kentucky at #17 Creighton • Saturday, Sept. 3 • 10:30 a.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | CU RADIO | CU NOTES | UK NOTES |
#25 USC vs. #16 Kentucky • Saturday, Sept. 3 • 5:00 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | UK NOTES | USC NOTES |
Match #6: Northern Iowa at #25 Creighton • Saturday, Sept. 3 • 7:30 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | CU RADIO | CU NOTES | UNI NOTES |
This Weekend
After winning last weekend's Rumble in the Rockies, No. 17 Creighton (3-0) returns home to host No. 16 Kentucky (1-1), No. 25 USC (3-0) and Northern Iowa (1-2) at the Bluejay Invitational Presented by Hilton Omaha.
The tournament features three matches on Friday and three matches on Saturday, with CU meeting No. 25 USC on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before Saturday contests against No. 16 Kentucky (10:30 a.m.) and Northern Iowa (7:30 p.m.).
All six contests will take place at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
The Bluejay Invitational is one of two tournaments nationally this weekend featuring three top-25 teams, joining the Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky., that includes No. 3 Louisville, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 15 San Diego.
Broadcast Information
All six matches of the Bluejay Invitational will be streamed on FloSports, which requires a subscription. Details on how to create an account at a significant discount and links to a schedule of all the matches are explained in great detail at http://GoCreighton.com/flosports.
Only Creighton's matches during the Bluejay Invitational will feature announcers. Friday's CU match vs. USC will be called by Ryan Piers and Kate Elman, while both of Saturday's contests will be announced by Jon Schriner and Shannon Smolinski.
The audio from Schriner and Smolinski in both of Saturday's CU matches will also be simulcast as well. The Kentucky match will be on 1180 The Zone (KZOT) at http://gocreighton.com/listen1180, while the UNI contest can be heard on News Talk 1290 AM (KOIL), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1290.
Live Stats Information
Every match this week will have free live stats at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com. Links will also be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #17 Creighton
Ranked 17th nationally, Creighton is 3-0 this season after wins in Laramie last weekend over Iowa State (3-0), Wichita State (3-1) and host Wyoming (3-1) to take the Rumble in the Rockies title.
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis picked up where she left off last season, as VolleyballMag.com's 2021 National Freshman of the Year averaged 4.91 kills per set to earn Tournament MVP honors.
Joining Sis on the All-Tournament Team last weekend were senior OH Keeley Davis (1.82 kps., 2.73 dps., 0.55 saps.) and sophomore S Kendra Wait (12.09 aps., 2.27 dps., 1.27 kps., .500%).
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 an ninth straight title in 2022.
Creighton averages 15.00 kills, 1.27 aces, 15,82 digs and 2.00 blocks per set while hitting .263 as a team.
Scouting #25 USC
USC swept Colgate, UMBC and Villanova last weekend to open the year with a 3-0 record.
Texas transfer Skylar Fields (4.00 kps., .329%) and Emilia Weske (3.00 kps., .315%) keyed the offense and Gala Trubint (4.00 dps.) paced the defense.
Mia Tuaniga (11.67 aps., 1.00 saps.) runs the Trojan offense and was named AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year a season ago. She leads the nation with 1.00 aces per set this fall.
USC averages 14.89 kills, 3.11 aces, 12.67 digs and 1.78 blocks per set while hitting .339 as a team.
Scouting #16 Kentucky
Ranked 16th nationally, Kentucky makes its first trip to Omaha since cutting down the net at CHI Health Center Omaha after winning the 2020 NCAA Volleyball title in April of 2021.
The Wildcats entered the year ranked 11th nationally but were stunned in five sets by Marquette in the season opener last Friday in Lexington before bouncing back to sweep Ohio.
Adanna Rollins (4.25 kps., .363%) and Erin Lamb (3.43 kps., .426%) lead the offense, while Eleanor Beavin (3.13 dps.) runs the back row.
Setting the offense is Emma Grome (10.63 aps., 0.38 saps.).
UK averages 14.00 kills, 1.75 aces, 11.38 digs and 1.88 blocks per set on .323 hitting and was aced just once in eight sets last weekend.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is 1-2 this season, having lost to Toledo (3-1) and Arizona State (3-2) last weekend before bouncing back to sweep Cal State Bakersfield in Tempe, Ariz.
Inga Rotto (2.75 kps., .417%, 0.83 bps.), Emily Holterhaus (2.50 kps.) and Carly Spies (2.50 kps., .284%, 0.92 bps.) led the offensive attack last weekend for the Panthers, which was set by Tayler Alden (10.08 aps.).
Texas transfer Sydney Petersen, daughter of head coach Bobbi Petersen, leads UNI with 3.25 digs per set.
The Panthers average 13.25 kills, 11.75 digs, 1.75 blocks and 1.42 aces per set while hitting .201.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 417-179 record entering 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. USC
USC is 6-2 all-time against Creighton, with all eight matches taking place since 2014. Oddly, the team to win the opening set is just 4-4.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-6 all-time against USC, and 1-0 against Brad Keller.
After losing the first six meetings, Creighton finally broke through with a 3-1 win at Northern Iowa in 2019, followed by last fall's 3-2 win at Kentucky that saw the Bluejays overcome a 13-10 fifth set deficit.
In last year's meeting, then-freshmen Norah Sis had 20 kills and Kendra Wait contributed 50 assists, nine kills and eight digs on .467 hitting.
Series History vs. Kentucky
Creighton has won the last four meetings to improve to 5-2 all-time against Kentucky, including wins in 2017 (3-0 in Omaha), 2018 (3-2 in Los Angeles), 2019 (3-1 in Cedar Falls) and 2021 (3-0 in Lexington). A 3-0 win in 2015 over the Wildcats in Cedar Falls marked Creighton's first top-10 victory ever, and last year's win in Lexington over the No. 3 Wildcats matched the highest-ranked team that CU has ever beaten.
Last year's match-up saw Jaela Zimmerman contribute 18 kills and 11 digs, while Norah Sis added 16 kills and 17 digs in the sweep over the then-defending national champions.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 5-2 against Kentucky and also 5-2 against Craig Skinner. Skinner is 2-5 against CU, his worst winning percentage at UK against any team he's faced five or more times.
Since the start of the 2015 season, Kentucky is 174-41, the nation's 10th-best win percentage (.809) in that time. The only school to beat the Wildcats more than three times in that span is Creighton (5). Incidentally, Creighton's .813 win percentage in that time (182-42) is eighth-best nationally.
Series History vs. Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa owns a 42-13 record all-time against Creighton, including an 18-4 lead in Omaha.
After winning just three of the first 43 meetings, Creighton has won 10 of the last 12 match-ups in the series. CU's 10 wins are trail only UNI's Valley rival Illinois State (11) for the most against the Panthers since 2012.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 13-23 vs. Northern Iowa and 13-23 vs. Bobbi Petersen. Petersen is 30-13 overall against Creighton.
Six of CU's 13 wins against the Panthers have come in five sets. In 55 all-time meetings, Creighton has swept the Panthers just six times.
Creighton's last eight victories over Northern Iowa have come in six different states (twice in Nebraska, twice in Kentucky, and once each in Iowa, California, Kansas, Illinois).
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.
Head To Head
This weekend's Bluejay Invitational marks the eighth time in the past nine seasons (no event during the 2020 COVID year) that Creighton, UNI, USC and Kentucky have met in a tournament that has rotated sites.
The Women of Troy are 15-6 with four titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018). Creighton is 12-9 with three titles (2017, 2019, 2021), Kentucky is 10-11, and UNI is 5-16.
USC is 6-1 against UNI, 5-2 vs. Creighton and 4-3 against Kentucky.
Creighton is 5-2 against both Northern Iowa and Kentucky and 2-5 against USC.
Kentucky is 5-2 against Northern Iowa, 3-4 against USC and 2-5 versus Creighton.
Northern Iowa is 2-5 against Kentucky, 2-5 against Creighton and 1-6 against USC.
The event host has gone 13-8 with three titles (USC in 2016; Creighton in 2017; USC in 2018).
Final Tournament Standings Since 2014
2014 @UK USC 3-0 UK 2-1 CU 1-2 UNI 0-3
2015 @UNI USC 3-0 CU 1-2 UNI 1-2 UK 1-2
2016 @USC USC 3-0 CU 1-2 UK 1-2 UNI 1-2
2017 @CU CU 2-1 UK 2-1 UNI 1-2 USC 1-2
2018 @USC USC 3-0 UNI 2-1 CU 1-2 UK 0-3
2019 @UNI CU 3-0 UK 2-1 USC 1-2 UNI 0-3
2021 @UK CU 3-0 UK 2-1 USC 1-2 UNI 0-3
Tourney Results, Previous Seven Years
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021
Match-up at UK at UNI at USC at CU at USC at UNI at UK
CU-UK UK 3-0 CU 3-0 UK 3-0 CU 3-0 CU 3-2 CU 3-1 CU 3-0
CU-USC USC 3-1 USC 3-0 USC 3-2 USC 3-0 USC 3-2 CU 3-1 CU 3-2
CU-UNI CU 3-2 UNI 3-1 CU 3-0 CU 3-0 UNI 3-0 CU 3-2 CU 3-0
USC-UNI USC 3-0 USC 3-0 USC 3-1 UNI 3-1 USC 3-0 USC 3-1 USC 3-0
UK-UNI UK 3-1 UK 3-1 UNI 3-0 UK 3-2 UNI 3-2 UK 3-0 UK 3-0
UK-USC USC 3-0 USC 3-0 USC 3-0 UK 3-1 USC 3-1 UK 3-1 UK 3-0
Familiar Foes
The field for this weekend's Bluejay Invitational is reuniting for the eighth time in the past nine seasons, as the event started in 2014 in Lexington, went to Cedar Falls in 2015, was held in Los Angeles in 2016 moved to Omaha in 2017, returned to Los Angeles in 2018 and Cedar Falls in 2019. It was not played in 2020 due to COVID before resuming in Lexington last September.
The four-year tourney was renewed prior to 2018, so this weekend marks the final year of the second four-year cycle.
The event features a nice mix not only geographically, but also of some traditional and upcoming powers in the college game.
USC has made 29 of the last 31 NCAA Tournament appearances, and been to the Regional Final (or beyond) in 12 of the last 21. The Trojans claim six national titles in program history. Friday's showdown will be the ninth meeting between the Bluejays and the Women of Troy since September 6, 2014.
Northern Iowa has won 20 or more matches in 18-of-22 seasons under Bobbi Petersen, during which time the Panthers have advanced to 15 NCAA Tournaments.
Kentucky has made 17 straight NCAA Tournaments, a streak that coincides with the arrival of coach Craig Skinner. The Wildcats own 20 or more wins in 14 of the last 15 seasons and have seven Sweet 16 trips in that span, including the 2020 national title (in the spring of 2021) in their last visit to Omaha.
Creighton has ascended onto the national stage in recent seasons. Since inheriting a 3-23 team in 2003, Kirsten Bernthal Booth has helped the Bluejays reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons, winning a match eight of those times. All 12 seasons of 20-plus wins in the program's modern history have come since 2006.
Digging Deeper
In the seven previous versions of this rotating tournament, Creighton is 6-1 in its first match of the weekend.
The Jays are 2-5 in its second match, and 4-3 in its third match.
Old MVC Rivals Get Reacquainted
Saturday's match-up with Northern Iowa will be Creighton's 56th against the Panthers since the program's restart in 1994, the most of any opponent.
The only other teams that Creighton has played more than 40 times are Wichita State (50) and Illinois State (43).
UNI is the only opponent to defeat Creighton more than 30 times, something the Panthers have done 42 times.
Creighton and Northern Iowa have played all but one season (2013) since the Bluejays restarted volleyball in 1994.
The teams were Missouri Valley Conference rivals who played twice annually from 1994-2012, plus six more MVC Tournament meetings.
The teams did not play in 2013, but have played seven of the previous eight campaigns as part of a four-year tournament that also includes Kentucky and USC. UNI also visited Creighton in 2020 (spring of 2021) in a non-conference battle.
Creighton is 8-2 against Northern Iowa since leaving the MVC, compared to a 5-40 mark when the two were Valley rivals.
Connections To UNI And The State of Iowa
Creighton and UNI have numerous connections
between the two schools and states.
Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth grew up during part of her childhood in the Cedar Falls suburb of Waterloo, and attended grad school at the University of Iowa. She got her first college head coaching job at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Creighton men's basketball coach Greg McDermott played (1984-88) and served as a head coach (2001-06) at Northern Iowa.
Former Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen is a 1971 graduate of Northern Iowa. He had been at Creighton since 1980, ascending to the Athletic Director position in 1994, before retiring in August of 2021. Northern Iowa women's basketball head coach Tanya Warren played at Creighton and has spent two stints as an assistant coach with the Bluejays. One of two players in program history with a retired number, Warren played for Rasmussen.
Northern Iowa women's soccer head coach Bruce Erickson served as Creighton's head women's soccer coach from 1999-2014, where he won a program-record 163 games and led the Jays to five NCAA Tournaments.
Creighton Sports Information Director and volleyball contact Rob Anderson worked as Northern Iowa's volleyball SID in 2000 and 2001.
Another Loaded Field
This weekend's Bluejay Invitational field features three teams (No. 16 Kentucky, No. 17 Creighton and No. 25 USC) that are listed in this week's AVCA poll.
Below is a list of each team to enter play while being ranked or having received votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll the week of the Bluejay Invitational. Those previous 25 teams are a collective 48-21 with 12 titles.
Each of the past nine (and 12 of 16) Bluejay Invitationals have been won by a team that entered the weekend in the top-25 or receiving votes.
Year (Rank) Team W-L at Bluejay Invite
2007 (RV) Middle Tennessee 3-0
2008 #16 Minnesota 3-0
2008 #21 LSU 2-1
2008 (RV) Texas A&M 0-3
2009 #10 Illinois 2-0
2012 #21 Kansas State 3-0
2013 #19 Creighton 2-1
2013 (RV) California 3-0
2014 (RV) Creighton 3-0
2015 (RV) Creighton 2-1
2015 (RV) Pacific 3-0
2015 (RV) Lipscomb 0-3
2016 #4 Kansas 2-0
2016 (RV) Creighton 2-1
2016 (RV) TCU 1-1
2017 #7 Creighton 2-1
2017 #13 Kentucky 2-1
2017 #18 USC 1-2
2017 (RV) Northern Iowa 1-2
2018 #14 Creighton 2-0
2018 (RV) Iowa State 1-1
2018 (RV) Wichita State 0-2
2019 #12 Washington 3-0
2019 #17 Creighton 2-1
2021 #19 Creighton 3-0
2022 #16 Kentucky TBD
2022 #17 Creighton TBD
2022 #25 USC TBD
Bluejay Invitational History
This will be the 17th edition of the Bluejay Invitational, where host Creighton is 29-16 all-time in the event. The Bluejays have never gone winless in the event, and have gone undefeated just three times (2014, 2018, 2021). CU boasts four titles, winning the Bluejay Invitational in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Champions, by year, include Iowa State (2005), Iowa (2006), Middle Tennessee (2007), Minnesota (2008), Illinois (2009), Kansas (2010), Northern Illinois (2011), Kansas State (2012), California (2013), Creighton (2014), Pacific (2015), Kansas (2016), Creighton (2017), Creighton (2018), Washington (2019) and Creighton (2021).
Between 16 previous Bluejay Invitationals, (2005-19), two Creighton First Serve Festivals (1996-97), four Creighton Classics (2011, 2014, 2015, 2019), one MVC Tournament (2009) and four BIG EAST Tournaments (2013, 2015, 2018, 2020), Creighton has won just eight of the 27 tournaments it has hosted since the program's 1994 restart.
Those were the 2014 Bluejay Invitational, the 2015 BIG EAST Tournament, the 2017 Bluejay Invitational, the 2018 Bluejay Invitational, the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament, the 2019 Creighton Classic, the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament and the 2021 Bluejay Invitational.
More Bluejay Invitational History
There have been 34 previous schools (besides Creighton) to play in the Bluejay Invitational, including two appearances each by Omaha, Illinois, Kansas, Northern Colorado, Iowa State, Wichita State and Lipscomb.
Creighton's 29 wins are most in Bluejay Invitational history, far ahead of Kansas' five wins that are second-most.
Creighton (4 titles) and Kansas (2) are the only schools in history to win the event more than once.
Creighton is the only program to win consecutive Bluejay Invitational crowns (2017, 2018).
This will be the second appearance in the Bluejay Invitational for Kentucky, USC and Northern Iowa, all of whom participated in 2017 in Omaha.
Longitude Aptitude
Teams located west of Creighton are a combined 23-36 all-time with four Bluejay Invitational titles, while teams to the east of Creighton are 34-34 with eight titles. Creighton owns the other four titles, and is 29-16 in the event.
Creighton has won two or more matches in every Bluejay Invitational since going 1-2 in 2011, and has never been winless in the event.
Of this year's field, Northern Iowa and Kentucky are east of Omaha while USC is located west of Creighton's campus in Omaha.
Home Opener History
Creighton enters Friday's match vs. USC with an 18-10 mark in home openers, including a 13-6 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 11-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena, which will be Friday vs. USC.
Who Would Have Thought?
On April 24, 2021, the Kentucky Wildcats became the first SEC team in history to win the NCAA Volleyball championship when it defeated a Texas team that started Skylar Fields and Sydney Petersen.
Fields has since transferred to USC, while Petersen transferred to Northern Iowa.
The site of that national championship match was Omaha, Neb., home to Creighton.
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played in nine tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won seven of them.
The only events that CU has not won were the '2020' NCAA Tournament (won by Kentucky) and the 2021 NCAA Tournament (won by Wisconsin). Let's take a closer look:
Creighton Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-25th)
2021 Mizzou Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluegrass Battle 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic 3-0 (1st)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 1-1 (T-17th)
2022 Rumble in the Rockies 3-0 (1st)
Best Starts
Creighton has started 3-0 for the seventh time ever. During four of those aforementioned six seasons, CU's first loss came to a ranked team, and on five occasions it came during a home match.
Most Wins Before First Loss, CU History
Wins Season Lost to
6 2021 #3 Nebraska
5 2006 Iowa
4 2000 at #6 Hawai'i
4 2012 #21 Kansas State
4 2013 California
4 2017 #18 USC
3 2022 TBD
What's Your Twenty?
Creighton is 19-1 in its last 20 matches, with the only setback in that span being a 3-1 loss to Kansas in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays are 58-7 in sets played in those 20 matches, and 13 of the victories have been 3-0 sweeps.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 148-35 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 15-20 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-1 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 35 of Creighton's 64 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 241-29 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but two of its past 82 home matches over unranked teams and all but eight of its last 98 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
After a total of three total top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last seven seasons (2015-21). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Eleven of Creighton's top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (6) or Kentucky (5).
Creighton is ranked 17th in this week's poll, while Kentucky is 16th and USC 25th.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 15-20)
Home: 5-7 Away: 5-7 Neutral: 5-6
Date Winner Loser CU Score
11/19/12 #11 Minnesota #21 Creighton 1-3
08/30/13 #25 Creighton #13 BYU 3-1
09/14/13 #11 UCLA #24 Creighton 1-3
09/16/13 #7 Hawaii #23 Creighton 2-3
08/30/14 #22 Kansas #23 Creighton 1-3
09/03/16 #23 Kentucky #22 Creighton 0-3
12/02/16 #21 Creighton #4 Kansas 3-2
12/09/16 #21 Creighton #17 Michigan 3-2
12/10/16 #5 Texas #21 Creighton 0-3
08/26/17 #9 Creighton #3 Washington 3-1
09/01/17 #7 Creighton #13 Kentucky 3-0
09/02/17 #18 USC #7 Creighton 0-3
09/08/17 #17 Purdue #9 Creighton 1-3
09/09/17 #9 Creighton #7 Kansas 3-0
09/16/17 #19 Iowa State #8 Creighton 2-3
12/12/17 #12 Michigan St. #15 Creighton 1-3
08/24/18 #13 Creighton #5 Kentucky 3-2
08/25/18 #10 USC #13 Creighton 2-3
09/06/18 #7 Nebraska #14 Creighton 2-3
09/15/18 #8 Illinois #10 Creighton 1-3
09/23/18 #10 Creighton #21 Marquette 3-0
10/26/18 #10 Creighton #18 Marquette 3-1
11/24/18 #9 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-1
12/01/18 #22 Washington #9 Creighton 0-3
08/30/19 #2 Nebraska #18 Creighton 1-3
08/31/19 #20 Baylor #18 Creighton 0-3
09/06/19 #23 Creighton #12 Kentucky 3-1
09/07/19 #23 Creighton #15 USC 3-1
09/14/19 #12 Washington #17 Creighton 1-3
10/12/19 #13 Creighton #10 Marquette 3-2
11/22/19 #12 Creighton #9 Marquette 3-1
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
09/02/22 #25 USC at #17 Creighton 7:30 pm
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky at #17 Creighton 10:30 am
Pack A Snack
In this event in 2018, Creighton played two of its longest matches in program history.
Creighton's season-opening contest against Kentucky was 2:36 in length and featured the highest-scoring fifth set (22-20) in program history, as the Jays survived after staring down a pair of match points in the fifth set for the first time since 2011.
One night later, Creighton and USC squared off in the longest match by time (3:04) in school history, which saw USC emerge with an 18-16 win in the fifth set. The match included 49 ties and 19 lead changers. By comparison, the Los Angeles Rams exhibition game against the Houston Texans that happened just down the street at the LA Coliseum earlier in the day lasted 3:02 to complete.
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.
Megan (Bober) Varasteh To The Hall
Megan (Bober) Varasteh has been announced as part of the 2022 class for the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame, McCormick Endowed Athletic Director Marcus Blossom announced on Friday, August 26th.
Varasteh is part of the 54th class of inductees (along with Renae Sinkler-O'Gorman and Carol Ketcham) and will give 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.
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 2022 Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held on Saturday, October 15 at Hilton Omaha.
After A Home Loss
Friday's test against No. 25 USC will be Creighton's first match inside D.J. Sokol Arena since dropping an NCAA Tournament match to Kansas last December.
Creighton has not lost consecutive home matches since losing in the 2017 NCAA Tournament at home to No. 12 Michigan State, then dropping its 2018 home opener to No. 6 Nebraska at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Creighton has not lost back-to-back matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena since September of 2014 when it dropped contests to No. 16 Illinois and South Dakota as part of the Creighton Classic.
Schmitt A Ki Player
Kiana Schmitt entered the 2022 season with three career matches (of 60 played) with 10 or more kills, then started her senior campaign with a pair of double-figure kill performances at the Rumble in the Rockies.
Schmitt had 10 kills on Friday night vs. Wichita State, then tied her career-high with 12 kills in Saturday's win at Wyoming.
Creighton improved to 22-1 all-time when Schmitt has six or more kills.
Poll Road Ahead
Creighton has been ranked in each of the last 16 AVCA Top 25 polls. With little movement from week-to-week, however, CU is one of 20 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, UCLA, Washington, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 85 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll.
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel against elite competition.
Creighton is 7-10 against ranked non-conference foes over the previous four 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 3-0 so far 0-0 so far TBD
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
Season Opening History
Last week's win vs. Iowa State improved Creighton to 19-10 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994, and 15-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 12-2 mark since 2009.
Creighton also improved to 14-15 all-time in road openers when it defeated Wyoming on Saturday, including a 13-7 mark in road openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Hello World!
Three Bluejay freshmen (Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes), as well as graduate transfers Bethany Clapp, Jazz Schmidt and Allison Whitten, made their Creighton debuts last weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the case of Clapp, Schmidt and Whitten).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders or career runner-ups for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Brittany Witt and Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2019 Keeley Davis 4 13 7 47 .128 0 2 2 0
2021 Norah Sis• 3 11 4 28 .250 0 1 5 4
2018 Bethany Clapp$• 4 10 1 20 .450 0 1 5 3
2022 Jazz Schmidt 3 7 3 17 .235 0 0 1 1
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2017 Jazz Schmidt#• 3 5 2 14 .214 4 3 8 4
2021 Kendra Wait• 3 5 0 9 .556 32 0 7 2
2022 Ava Martin 1 3 0 4 .750 0 0 0 1
2018 Jaela Zimmerman 5 1 1 6 .000 0 0 6 0
2019 Emily Bressman• 4 1 2 6 -.167 1 0 5 0
2022 Bethany Clapp 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 1
2022 Allison Whitten 3 0 0 0 --- 3 0 11 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2022 Sky McCune• 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 5 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2018 Allison Whitten% 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 5 0
2020 Megan Skovsende 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2022 Ann Marie Remmes 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 1
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Abbey Milner 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
$Clapp's stats from debut at Incarnate Word
#Schmidt's stats from debut at Palm Beach Atlantic
%Whitten's stats from debut at Morehead State
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Sky McCune last Friday 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)
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%)
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.
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 103 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 342 997 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
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. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. Brittany Witt 471 122 2016-19
4. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
5. Kate Elman 464 105 2012-15
6. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
Keeley Davis 289 104 2019-Pr.
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
Put It In Neutral
Creighton is 9-0 on neutral floors the past two seasons (7-0 last year, 2-0 this year), improving to 73-34 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in neutral site matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 417-3 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa, two match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's, and two match points on Dec. 7, 2019 in an NCAA Tournament loss at No. 7 Minnesota.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
11/20/15 at Georgetown 23-24, 26-27 (4th set) 15-7
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky 16-15, 19-18 22-20
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-33 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 16 of its last 22 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 4-2 12-4
2021 1-1 31-4
2022 0-0 3-0
Total 77-61 510-331
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
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been 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 ??? ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton enters its 10th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 80-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (73-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 64-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 58-1 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 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-123 sets played.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. 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 8/29)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (9) 137 13 230 60
Marquette (8) 120 27 211 69
Xavier 84 64 132 129
Butler 81 69 145 122
Villanova (1) 77 73 145 117
St. John's (1) 71 79 157 123
Seton Hall (1) 66 83 128 139
DePaul 40 110 100 155
Georgetown 33 109 83 163
Providence* 22 112 85 150
Connecticut# 17 9 29 19
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 347-11 (.969) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 290-5 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 216-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 109-1 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Conversely, the Jays are 15-202 (.069) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 13-103 (.112) under Booth. Those 15 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 352-32 (.917) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 65-147 (.307) 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 124-3 in its last 127 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific, on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska and on Jan. 29, 2021 to South Dakota.
Creighton has gone 84-2 in its last 86 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to an 8-13 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 126-2 in its last 128 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
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 seven matches (Iowa State, Kentucky, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and CU is 1-0 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 90-101 since.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
2022 1-0 so far
TOTAL 93-136
TOTAL Under Booth 90-101
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
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).
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 417 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 9/1)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 618*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 417*
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
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 152 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 27 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 17-1 - 17-1
Connecticut 0-1 1-0 1-1
DePaul 18-0 1-0 19-0
Georgetown 16-0 - 16-0
Marquette 15-3 5-1 20-4
Providence 13-0 - 13-0
Seton Hall 13-3 2-0 15-3
St. John's 14-2 0-1 14-3
Villanova 13-3 3-0 16-3
Xavier 18-0 3-0 21-0
Total 137-13 15-2 152-15
Matches played at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
Northern Iowa vs. #25 USC • Friday, Sept. 2 • 10:30 a.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | UNI AUDIO | UNI NOTES | USC NOTES |
#16 Kentucky vs. Northern Iowa • Friday, Sept. 2 • 5:00 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | UNI AUDIO | UK NOTES | UNI NOTES |
Match #4: #25 USC at #17 Creighton • Friday, Sept. 2 • 7:30 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | CU NOTES | USC NOTES |
Match #5: #16 Kentucky at #17 Creighton • Saturday, Sept. 3 • 10:30 a.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | CU RADIO | CU NOTES | UK NOTES |
#25 USC vs. #16 Kentucky • Saturday, Sept. 3 • 5:00 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | UK NOTES | USC NOTES |
Match #6: Northern Iowa at #25 Creighton • Saturday, Sept. 3 • 7:30 p.m.
| VIDEO | FLOSPORTS INFO | CU RADIO | CU NOTES | UNI NOTES |
This Weekend
After winning last weekend's Rumble in the Rockies, No. 17 Creighton (3-0) returns home to host No. 16 Kentucky (1-1), No. 25 USC (3-0) and Northern Iowa (1-2) at the Bluejay Invitational Presented by Hilton Omaha.
The tournament features three matches on Friday and three matches on Saturday, with CU meeting No. 25 USC on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before Saturday contests against No. 16 Kentucky (10:30 a.m.) and Northern Iowa (7:30 p.m.).
All six contests will take place at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
The Bluejay Invitational is one of two tournaments nationally this weekend featuring three top-25 teams, joining the Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky., that includes No. 3 Louisville, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 15 San Diego.
Broadcast Information
All six matches of the Bluejay Invitational will be streamed on FloSports, which requires a subscription. Details on how to create an account at a significant discount and links to a schedule of all the matches are explained in great detail at http://GoCreighton.com/flosports.
Only Creighton's matches during the Bluejay Invitational will feature announcers. Friday's CU match vs. USC will be called by Ryan Piers and Kate Elman, while both of Saturday's contests will be announced by Jon Schriner and Shannon Smolinski.
The audio from Schriner and Smolinski in both of Saturday's CU matches will also be simulcast as well. The Kentucky match will be on 1180 The Zone (KZOT) at http://gocreighton.com/listen1180, while the UNI contest can be heard on News Talk 1290 AM (KOIL), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1290.
Live Stats Information
Every match this week will have free live stats at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com. Links will also be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #17 Creighton
Ranked 17th nationally, Creighton is 3-0 this season after wins in Laramie last weekend over Iowa State (3-0), Wichita State (3-1) and host Wyoming (3-1) to take the Rumble in the Rockies title.
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis picked up where she left off last season, as VolleyballMag.com's 2021 National Freshman of the Year averaged 4.91 kills per set to earn Tournament MVP honors.
Joining Sis on the All-Tournament Team last weekend were senior OH Keeley Davis (1.82 kps., 2.73 dps., 0.55 saps.) and sophomore S Kendra Wait (12.09 aps., 2.27 dps., 1.27 kps., .500%).
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 an ninth straight title in 2022.
Creighton averages 15.00 kills, 1.27 aces, 15,82 digs and 2.00 blocks per set while hitting .263 as a team.
Scouting #25 USC
USC swept Colgate, UMBC and Villanova last weekend to open the year with a 3-0 record.
Texas transfer Skylar Fields (4.00 kps., .329%) and Emilia Weske (3.00 kps., .315%) keyed the offense and Gala Trubint (4.00 dps.) paced the defense.
Mia Tuaniga (11.67 aps., 1.00 saps.) runs the Trojan offense and was named AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year a season ago. She leads the nation with 1.00 aces per set this fall.
USC averages 14.89 kills, 3.11 aces, 12.67 digs and 1.78 blocks per set while hitting .339 as a team.
Scouting #16 Kentucky
Ranked 16th nationally, Kentucky makes its first trip to Omaha since cutting down the net at CHI Health Center Omaha after winning the 2020 NCAA Volleyball title in April of 2021.
The Wildcats entered the year ranked 11th nationally but were stunned in five sets by Marquette in the season opener last Friday in Lexington before bouncing back to sweep Ohio.
Adanna Rollins (4.25 kps., .363%) and Erin Lamb (3.43 kps., .426%) lead the offense, while Eleanor Beavin (3.13 dps.) runs the back row.
Setting the offense is Emma Grome (10.63 aps., 0.38 saps.).
UK averages 14.00 kills, 1.75 aces, 11.38 digs and 1.88 blocks per set on .323 hitting and was aced just once in eight sets last weekend.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is 1-2 this season, having lost to Toledo (3-1) and Arizona State (3-2) last weekend before bouncing back to sweep Cal State Bakersfield in Tempe, Ariz.
Inga Rotto (2.75 kps., .417%, 0.83 bps.), Emily Holterhaus (2.50 kps.) and Carly Spies (2.50 kps., .284%, 0.92 bps.) led the offensive attack last weekend for the Panthers, which was set by Tayler Alden (10.08 aps.).
Texas transfer Sydney Petersen, daughter of head coach Bobbi Petersen, leads UNI with 3.25 digs per set.
The Panthers average 13.25 kills, 11.75 digs, 1.75 blocks and 1.42 aces per set while hitting .201.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 417-179 record entering 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. USC
USC is 6-2 all-time against Creighton, with all eight matches taking place since 2014. Oddly, the team to win the opening set is just 4-4.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 2-6 all-time against USC, and 1-0 against Brad Keller.
After losing the first six meetings, Creighton finally broke through with a 3-1 win at Northern Iowa in 2019, followed by last fall's 3-2 win at Kentucky that saw the Bluejays overcome a 13-10 fifth set deficit.
In last year's meeting, then-freshmen Norah Sis had 20 kills and Kendra Wait contributed 50 assists, nine kills and eight digs on .467 hitting.
Series History vs. Kentucky
Creighton has won the last four meetings to improve to 5-2 all-time against Kentucky, including wins in 2017 (3-0 in Omaha), 2018 (3-2 in Los Angeles), 2019 (3-1 in Cedar Falls) and 2021 (3-0 in Lexington). A 3-0 win in 2015 over the Wildcats in Cedar Falls marked Creighton's first top-10 victory ever, and last year's win in Lexington over the No. 3 Wildcats matched the highest-ranked team that CU has ever beaten.
Last year's match-up saw Jaela Zimmerman contribute 18 kills and 11 digs, while Norah Sis added 16 kills and 17 digs in the sweep over the then-defending national champions.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 5-2 against Kentucky and also 5-2 against Craig Skinner. Skinner is 2-5 against CU, his worst winning percentage at UK against any team he's faced five or more times.
Since the start of the 2015 season, Kentucky is 174-41, the nation's 10th-best win percentage (.809) in that time. The only school to beat the Wildcats more than three times in that span is Creighton (5). Incidentally, Creighton's .813 win percentage in that time (182-42) is eighth-best nationally.
Series History vs. Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa owns a 42-13 record all-time against Creighton, including an 18-4 lead in Omaha.
After winning just three of the first 43 meetings, Creighton has won 10 of the last 12 match-ups in the series. CU's 10 wins are trail only UNI's Valley rival Illinois State (11) for the most against the Panthers since 2012.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 13-23 vs. Northern Iowa and 13-23 vs. Bobbi Petersen. Petersen is 30-13 overall against Creighton.
Six of CU's 13 wins against the Panthers have come in five sets. In 55 all-time meetings, Creighton has swept the Panthers just six times.
Creighton's last eight victories over Northern Iowa have come in six different states (twice in Nebraska, twice in Kentucky, and once each in Iowa, California, Kansas, Illinois).
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.
Head To Head
This weekend's Bluejay Invitational marks the eighth time in the past nine seasons (no event during the 2020 COVID year) that Creighton, UNI, USC and Kentucky have met in a tournament that has rotated sites.
The Women of Troy are 15-6 with four titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018). Creighton is 12-9 with three titles (2017, 2019, 2021), Kentucky is 10-11, and UNI is 5-16.
USC is 6-1 against UNI, 5-2 vs. Creighton and 4-3 against Kentucky.
Creighton is 5-2 against both Northern Iowa and Kentucky and 2-5 against USC.
Kentucky is 5-2 against Northern Iowa, 3-4 against USC and 2-5 versus Creighton.
Northern Iowa is 2-5 against Kentucky, 2-5 against Creighton and 1-6 against USC.
The event host has gone 13-8 with three titles (USC in 2016; Creighton in 2017; USC in 2018).
Final Tournament Standings Since 2014
2014 @UK USC 3-0 UK 2-1 CU 1-2 UNI 0-3
2015 @UNI USC 3-0 CU 1-2 UNI 1-2 UK 1-2
2016 @USC USC 3-0 CU 1-2 UK 1-2 UNI 1-2
2017 @CU CU 2-1 UK 2-1 UNI 1-2 USC 1-2
2018 @USC USC 3-0 UNI 2-1 CU 1-2 UK 0-3
2019 @UNI CU 3-0 UK 2-1 USC 1-2 UNI 0-3
2021 @UK CU 3-0 UK 2-1 USC 1-2 UNI 0-3
Tourney Results, Previous Seven Years
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021
Match-up at UK at UNI at USC at CU at USC at UNI at UK
CU-UK UK 3-0 CU 3-0 UK 3-0 CU 3-0 CU 3-2 CU 3-1 CU 3-0
CU-USC USC 3-1 USC 3-0 USC 3-2 USC 3-0 USC 3-2 CU 3-1 CU 3-2
CU-UNI CU 3-2 UNI 3-1 CU 3-0 CU 3-0 UNI 3-0 CU 3-2 CU 3-0
USC-UNI USC 3-0 USC 3-0 USC 3-1 UNI 3-1 USC 3-0 USC 3-1 USC 3-0
UK-UNI UK 3-1 UK 3-1 UNI 3-0 UK 3-2 UNI 3-2 UK 3-0 UK 3-0
UK-USC USC 3-0 USC 3-0 USC 3-0 UK 3-1 USC 3-1 UK 3-1 UK 3-0
Familiar Foes
The field for this weekend's Bluejay Invitational is reuniting for the eighth time in the past nine seasons, as the event started in 2014 in Lexington, went to Cedar Falls in 2015, was held in Los Angeles in 2016 moved to Omaha in 2017, returned to Los Angeles in 2018 and Cedar Falls in 2019. It was not played in 2020 due to COVID before resuming in Lexington last September.
The four-year tourney was renewed prior to 2018, so this weekend marks the final year of the second four-year cycle.
The event features a nice mix not only geographically, but also of some traditional and upcoming powers in the college game.
USC has made 29 of the last 31 NCAA Tournament appearances, and been to the Regional Final (or beyond) in 12 of the last 21. The Trojans claim six national titles in program history. Friday's showdown will be the ninth meeting between the Bluejays and the Women of Troy since September 6, 2014.
Northern Iowa has won 20 or more matches in 18-of-22 seasons under Bobbi Petersen, during which time the Panthers have advanced to 15 NCAA Tournaments.
Kentucky has made 17 straight NCAA Tournaments, a streak that coincides with the arrival of coach Craig Skinner. The Wildcats own 20 or more wins in 14 of the last 15 seasons and have seven Sweet 16 trips in that span, including the 2020 national title (in the spring of 2021) in their last visit to Omaha.
Creighton has ascended onto the national stage in recent seasons. Since inheriting a 3-23 team in 2003, Kirsten Bernthal Booth has helped the Bluejays reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 10 seasons, winning a match eight of those times. All 12 seasons of 20-plus wins in the program's modern history have come since 2006.
Digging Deeper
In the seven previous versions of this rotating tournament, Creighton is 6-1 in its first match of the weekend.
The Jays are 2-5 in its second match, and 4-3 in its third match.
Old MVC Rivals Get Reacquainted
Saturday's match-up with Northern Iowa will be Creighton's 56th against the Panthers since the program's restart in 1994, the most of any opponent.
The only other teams that Creighton has played more than 40 times are Wichita State (50) and Illinois State (43).
UNI is the only opponent to defeat Creighton more than 30 times, something the Panthers have done 42 times.
Creighton and Northern Iowa have played all but one season (2013) since the Bluejays restarted volleyball in 1994.
The teams were Missouri Valley Conference rivals who played twice annually from 1994-2012, plus six more MVC Tournament meetings.
The teams did not play in 2013, but have played seven of the previous eight campaigns as part of a four-year tournament that also includes Kentucky and USC. UNI also visited Creighton in 2020 (spring of 2021) in a non-conference battle.
Creighton is 8-2 against Northern Iowa since leaving the MVC, compared to a 5-40 mark when the two were Valley rivals.
Connections To UNI And The State of Iowa
Creighton and UNI have numerous connections
between the two schools and states.
Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth grew up during part of her childhood in the Cedar Falls suburb of Waterloo, and attended grad school at the University of Iowa. She got her first college head coaching job at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Creighton men's basketball coach Greg McDermott played (1984-88) and served as a head coach (2001-06) at Northern Iowa.
Former Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen is a 1971 graduate of Northern Iowa. He had been at Creighton since 1980, ascending to the Athletic Director position in 1994, before retiring in August of 2021. Northern Iowa women's basketball head coach Tanya Warren played at Creighton and has spent two stints as an assistant coach with the Bluejays. One of two players in program history with a retired number, Warren played for Rasmussen.
Northern Iowa women's soccer head coach Bruce Erickson served as Creighton's head women's soccer coach from 1999-2014, where he won a program-record 163 games and led the Jays to five NCAA Tournaments.
Creighton Sports Information Director and volleyball contact Rob Anderson worked as Northern Iowa's volleyball SID in 2000 and 2001.
Another Loaded Field
This weekend's Bluejay Invitational field features three teams (No. 16 Kentucky, No. 17 Creighton and No. 25 USC) that are listed in this week's AVCA poll.
Below is a list of each team to enter play while being ranked or having received votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll the week of the Bluejay Invitational. Those previous 25 teams are a collective 48-21 with 12 titles.
Each of the past nine (and 12 of 16) Bluejay Invitationals have been won by a team that entered the weekend in the top-25 or receiving votes.
Year (Rank) Team W-L at Bluejay Invite
2007 (RV) Middle Tennessee 3-0
2008 #16 Minnesota 3-0
2008 #21 LSU 2-1
2008 (RV) Texas A&M 0-3
2009 #10 Illinois 2-0
2012 #21 Kansas State 3-0
2013 #19 Creighton 2-1
2013 (RV) California 3-0
2014 (RV) Creighton 3-0
2015 (RV) Creighton 2-1
2015 (RV) Pacific 3-0
2015 (RV) Lipscomb 0-3
2016 #4 Kansas 2-0
2016 (RV) Creighton 2-1
2016 (RV) TCU 1-1
2017 #7 Creighton 2-1
2017 #13 Kentucky 2-1
2017 #18 USC 1-2
2017 (RV) Northern Iowa 1-2
2018 #14 Creighton 2-0
2018 (RV) Iowa State 1-1
2018 (RV) Wichita State 0-2
2019 #12 Washington 3-0
2019 #17 Creighton 2-1
2021 #19 Creighton 3-0
2022 #16 Kentucky TBD
2022 #17 Creighton TBD
2022 #25 USC TBD
Bluejay Invitational History
This will be the 17th edition of the Bluejay Invitational, where host Creighton is 29-16 all-time in the event. The Bluejays have never gone winless in the event, and have gone undefeated just three times (2014, 2018, 2021). CU boasts four titles, winning the Bluejay Invitational in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Champions, by year, include Iowa State (2005), Iowa (2006), Middle Tennessee (2007), Minnesota (2008), Illinois (2009), Kansas (2010), Northern Illinois (2011), Kansas State (2012), California (2013), Creighton (2014), Pacific (2015), Kansas (2016), Creighton (2017), Creighton (2018), Washington (2019) and Creighton (2021).
Between 16 previous Bluejay Invitationals, (2005-19), two Creighton First Serve Festivals (1996-97), four Creighton Classics (2011, 2014, 2015, 2019), one MVC Tournament (2009) and four BIG EAST Tournaments (2013, 2015, 2018, 2020), Creighton has won just eight of the 27 tournaments it has hosted since the program's 1994 restart.
Those were the 2014 Bluejay Invitational, the 2015 BIG EAST Tournament, the 2017 Bluejay Invitational, the 2018 Bluejay Invitational, the 2018 BIG EAST Tournament, the 2019 Creighton Classic, the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament and the 2021 Bluejay Invitational.
More Bluejay Invitational History
There have been 34 previous schools (besides Creighton) to play in the Bluejay Invitational, including two appearances each by Omaha, Illinois, Kansas, Northern Colorado, Iowa State, Wichita State and Lipscomb.
Creighton's 29 wins are most in Bluejay Invitational history, far ahead of Kansas' five wins that are second-most.
Creighton (4 titles) and Kansas (2) are the only schools in history to win the event more than once.
Creighton is the only program to win consecutive Bluejay Invitational crowns (2017, 2018).
This will be the second appearance in the Bluejay Invitational for Kentucky, USC and Northern Iowa, all of whom participated in 2017 in Omaha.
Longitude Aptitude
Teams located west of Creighton are a combined 23-36 all-time with four Bluejay Invitational titles, while teams to the east of Creighton are 34-34 with eight titles. Creighton owns the other four titles, and is 29-16 in the event.
Creighton has won two or more matches in every Bluejay Invitational since going 1-2 in 2011, and has never been winless in the event.
Of this year's field, Northern Iowa and Kentucky are east of Omaha while USC is located west of Creighton's campus in Omaha.
Home Opener History
Creighton enters Friday's match vs. USC with an 18-10 mark in home openers, including a 13-6 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 11-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena, which will be Friday vs. USC.
Who Would Have Thought?
On April 24, 2021, the Kentucky Wildcats became the first SEC team in history to win the NCAA Volleyball championship when it defeated a Texas team that started Skylar Fields and Sydney Petersen.
Fields has since transferred to USC, while Petersen transferred to Northern Iowa.
The site of that national championship match was Omaha, Neb., home to Creighton.
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played in nine tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won seven of them.
The only events that CU has not won were the '2020' NCAA Tournament (won by Kentucky) and the 2021 NCAA Tournament (won by Wisconsin). Let's take a closer look:
Creighton Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-25th)
2021 Mizzou Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluegrass Battle 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic 3-0 (1st)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 1-1 (T-17th)
2022 Rumble in the Rockies 3-0 (1st)
Best Starts
Creighton has started 3-0 for the seventh time ever. During four of those aforementioned six seasons, CU's first loss came to a ranked team, and on five occasions it came during a home match.
Most Wins Before First Loss, CU History
Wins Season Lost to
6 2021 #3 Nebraska
5 2006 Iowa
4 2000 at #6 Hawai'i
4 2012 #21 Kansas State
4 2013 California
4 2017 #18 USC
3 2022 TBD
What's Your Twenty?
Creighton is 19-1 in its last 20 matches, with the only setback in that span being a 3-1 loss to Kansas in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays are 58-7 in sets played in those 20 matches, and 13 of the victories have been 3-0 sweeps.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 148-35 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 15-20 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-1 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 35 of Creighton's 64 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 241-29 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but two of its past 82 home matches over unranked teams and all but eight of its last 98 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
After a total of three total top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last seven seasons (2015-21). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Eleven of Creighton's top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (6) or Kentucky (5).
Creighton is ranked 17th in this week's poll, while Kentucky is 16th and USC 25th.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 15-20)
Home: 5-7 Away: 5-7 Neutral: 5-6
Date Winner Loser CU Score
11/19/12 #11 Minnesota #21 Creighton 1-3
08/30/13 #25 Creighton #13 BYU 3-1
09/14/13 #11 UCLA #24 Creighton 1-3
09/16/13 #7 Hawaii #23 Creighton 2-3
08/30/14 #22 Kansas #23 Creighton 1-3
09/03/16 #23 Kentucky #22 Creighton 0-3
12/02/16 #21 Creighton #4 Kansas 3-2
12/09/16 #21 Creighton #17 Michigan 3-2
12/10/16 #5 Texas #21 Creighton 0-3
08/26/17 #9 Creighton #3 Washington 3-1
09/01/17 #7 Creighton #13 Kentucky 3-0
09/02/17 #18 USC #7 Creighton 0-3
09/08/17 #17 Purdue #9 Creighton 1-3
09/09/17 #9 Creighton #7 Kansas 3-0
09/16/17 #19 Iowa State #8 Creighton 2-3
12/12/17 #12 Michigan St. #15 Creighton 1-3
08/24/18 #13 Creighton #5 Kentucky 3-2
08/25/18 #10 USC #13 Creighton 2-3
09/06/18 #7 Nebraska #14 Creighton 2-3
09/15/18 #8 Illinois #10 Creighton 1-3
09/23/18 #10 Creighton #21 Marquette 3-0
10/26/18 #10 Creighton #18 Marquette 3-1
11/24/18 #9 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-1
12/01/18 #22 Washington #9 Creighton 0-3
08/30/19 #2 Nebraska #18 Creighton 1-3
08/31/19 #20 Baylor #18 Creighton 0-3
09/06/19 #23 Creighton #12 Kentucky 3-1
09/07/19 #23 Creighton #15 USC 3-1
09/14/19 #12 Washington #17 Creighton 1-3
10/12/19 #13 Creighton #10 Marquette 3-2
11/22/19 #12 Creighton #9 Marquette 3-1
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
09/02/22 #25 USC at #17 Creighton 7:30 pm
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky at #17 Creighton 10:30 am
Pack A Snack
In this event in 2018, Creighton played two of its longest matches in program history.
Creighton's season-opening contest against Kentucky was 2:36 in length and featured the highest-scoring fifth set (22-20) in program history, as the Jays survived after staring down a pair of match points in the fifth set for the first time since 2011.
One night later, Creighton and USC squared off in the longest match by time (3:04) in school history, which saw USC emerge with an 18-16 win in the fifth set. The match included 49 ties and 19 lead changers. By comparison, the Los Angeles Rams exhibition game against the Houston Texans that happened just down the street at the LA Coliseum earlier in the day lasted 3:02 to complete.
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.
Megan (Bober) Varasteh To The Hall
Megan (Bober) Varasteh has been announced as part of the 2022 class for the Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame, McCormick Endowed Athletic Director Marcus Blossom announced on Friday, August 26th.
Varasteh is part of the 54th class of inductees (along with Renae Sinkler-O'Gorman and Carol Ketcham) and will give 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.
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 2022 Creighton Athletics Hall of Fame banquet will be held on Saturday, October 15 at Hilton Omaha.
After A Home Loss
Friday's test against No. 25 USC will be Creighton's first match inside D.J. Sokol Arena since dropping an NCAA Tournament match to Kansas last December.
Creighton has not lost consecutive home matches since losing in the 2017 NCAA Tournament at home to No. 12 Michigan State, then dropping its 2018 home opener to No. 6 Nebraska at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Creighton has not lost back-to-back matches inside D.J. Sokol Arena since September of 2014 when it dropped contests to No. 16 Illinois and South Dakota as part of the Creighton Classic.
Schmitt A Ki Player
Kiana Schmitt entered the 2022 season with three career matches (of 60 played) with 10 or more kills, then started her senior campaign with a pair of double-figure kill performances at the Rumble in the Rockies.
Schmitt had 10 kills on Friday night vs. Wichita State, then tied her career-high with 12 kills in Saturday's win at Wyoming.
Creighton improved to 22-1 all-time when Schmitt has six or more kills.
Poll Road Ahead
Creighton has been ranked in each of the last 16 AVCA Top 25 polls. With little movement from week-to-week, however, CU is one of 20 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, UCLA, Washington, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 85 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll.
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel against elite competition.
Creighton is 7-10 against ranked non-conference foes over the previous four 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 3-0 so far 0-0 so far TBD
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
Season Opening History
Last week's win vs. Iowa State improved Creighton to 19-10 in season-opening matches since restarting the program in 1994, and 15-5 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 12-2 mark since 2009.
Creighton also improved to 14-15 all-time in road openers when it defeated Wyoming on Saturday, including a 13-7 mark in road openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Hello World!
Three Bluejay freshmen (Ava Martin, Sky McCune and Ann Marie Remmes), as well as graduate transfers Bethany Clapp, Jazz Schmidt and Allison Whitten, made their Creighton debuts last weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the case of Clapp, Schmidt and Whitten).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders or career runner-ups for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Brittany Witt and Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2019 Keeley Davis 4 13 7 47 .128 0 2 2 0
2021 Norah Sis• 3 11 4 28 .250 0 1 5 4
2018 Bethany Clapp$• 4 10 1 20 .450 0 1 5 3
2022 Jazz Schmidt 3 7 3 17 .235 0 0 1 1
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2017 Jazz Schmidt#• 3 5 2 14 .214 4 3 8 4
2021 Kendra Wait• 3 5 0 9 .556 32 0 7 2
2022 Ava Martin 1 3 0 4 .750 0 0 0 1
2018 Jaela Zimmerman 5 1 1 6 .000 0 0 6 0
2019 Emily Bressman• 4 1 2 6 -.167 1 0 5 0
2022 Bethany Clapp 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 1 1
2022 Allison Whitten 3 0 0 0 --- 3 0 11 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2022 Sky McCune• 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 5 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2018 Allison Whitten% 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 5 0
2020 Megan Skovsende 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 2 0
2022 Ann Marie Remmes 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 1
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Abbey Milner 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
$Clapp's stats from debut at Incarnate Word
#Schmidt's stats from debut at Palm Beach Atlantic
%Whitten's stats from debut at Morehead State
Some Fab Freshmen
Including Sky McCune last Friday 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)
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%)
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.
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 103 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 342 997 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
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. Melissa Weisensee 411 125 1994-97
3. Brittany Witt 471 122 2016-19
4. JoDe Cieloha 398 113 1994-97
5. Kate Elman 464 105 2012-15
6. Shelly Kapler 388 104 1996-99
Keeley Davis 289 104 2019-Pr.
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
Put It In Neutral
Creighton is 9-0 on neutral floors the past two seasons (7-0 last year, 2-0 this year), improving to 73-34 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in neutral site matches.
Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won nine matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point, including season-opening wins over No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 and vs. UTSA in 2011. Three of those other comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
On the other hand, Creighton is 417-3 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa, two match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's, and two match points on Dec. 7, 2019 in an NCAA Tournament loss at No. 7 Minnesota.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
11/20/15 at Georgetown 23-24, 26-27 (4th set) 15-7
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky 16-15, 19-18 22-20
Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 62-33 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 16 of its last 22 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019 and at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 15-4 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 4-2 12-4
2021 1-1 31-4
2022 0-0 3-0
Total 77-61 510-331
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
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball has been 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 ??? ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton enters its 10th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 80-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (73-3 in the regular-season, 7-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 64-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 58-1 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 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, winning 105-of-123 sets played.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. 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 8/29)
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (9) 137 13 230 60
Marquette (8) 120 27 211 69
Xavier 84 64 132 129
Butler 81 69 145 122
Villanova (1) 77 73 145 117
St. John's (1) 71 79 157 123
Seton Hall (1) 66 83 128 139
DePaul 40 110 100 155
Georgetown 33 109 83 163
Providence* 22 112 85 150
Connecticut# 17 9 29 19
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 347-11 (.969) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 290-5 mark (.983) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 216-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 109-1 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Conversely, the Jays are 15-202 (.069) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 13-103 (.112) under Booth. Those 15 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 352-32 (.917) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 65-147 (.307) 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 124-3 in its last 127 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific, on Sept. 6, 2018 to No. 7 Nebraska and on Jan. 29, 2021 to South Dakota.
Creighton has gone 84-2 in its last 86 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to an 8-13 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 126-2 in its last 128 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
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 seven matches (Iowa State, Kentucky, Florida State, Kansas State, Rice and Marquette) scheduled against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and CU is 1-0 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 90-101 since.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
2022 1-0 so far
TOTAL 93-136
TOTAL Under Booth 90-101
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
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).
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 417 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 9/1)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 618*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 498*
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 417*
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
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 152 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 27 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Seton Hall (3), Marquette (4), Villanova (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 17-1 - 17-1
Connecticut 0-1 1-0 1-1
DePaul 18-0 1-0 19-0
Georgetown 16-0 - 16-0
Marquette 15-3 5-1 20-4
Providence 13-0 - 13-0
Seton Hall 13-3 2-0 15-3
St. John's 14-2 0-1 14-3
Villanova 13-3 3-0 16-3
Xavier 18-0 3-0 21-0
Total 137-13 15-2 152-15
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball - All-Access Spring Ball Trailer
Wednesday, May 27
Creighton Volleyball - All-Access Spring Ball Part 1
Tuesday, May 26
Creighton Volleyball vs Nebraska Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Nebraska Volleyball vs Creighton Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
