Friday, September 1
Omaha, Neb.
6 PM
Creighton University
vs
Ball State
#20 Volleyball Hosts Bluejay Invitational
8/29/2023 4:35:00 PM | Volleyball
Creighton welcomes Ball State, LSU and UNI to Omaha
Bluejay Invitational - All matches played at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
LSU vs. UNI • Friday, Sept. 1 • 3:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | UNI NOTES | LSU NOTES |
Ball State at #20 Creighton • Friday, Sept. 1 • 6 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | BSU NOTES |
UNI vs. Ball State • Saturday, Sept. 2 • 2:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | UNI NOTES | BSU NOTES |
LSU at #20 Creighton • Saturday, Sept. 2 • 5 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | LSU NOTES |
Ball State vs. LSU • Sunday, Sept. 3 • 2:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | LSU NOTES | BSU NOTES |
Northern Iowa at #20 Creighton • Sunday, Sept. 3 • 2:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | UNI NOTES |
This Weekend
No. 20 Creighton opens the home portion of its 2023 schedule this weekend when it hosts the Bluejay Invitational against three teams with postseason aspirations.
The tournament begins on Friday, Sept. 1 at 3:30 p.m. when LSU (1-1) meets Northern Iowa (1-2), preceding Creighton's (2-1) match-up against Ball State (2-1) at 6 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 2, Northern Iowa meets Ball State at 2:30 p.m., followed by Creighton welcoming LSU at 5 p.m.
The event wraps up on Sunday, Sept. 3., when Ball State takes on LSU at Noon before closing when Northern Iowa battles against Creighton at 2:30 p.m.
D.J. Sokol Arena (2,500) in Omaha, Neb., will host the action.
Weekend Promotions
Friday will feature free blue t-shirts to the first 500 fans.
Saturday will feature a poster-making station.
Sunday includes a free tailgate including pizza and drinks starting at 1 p.m. outside of D.J. Sokol Arena as part of National Tailgating Day.
Broadcast Information
All six matches of the Bluejay Invitational will be streamed on FloSports, which requires a subscription. The Volleyball schedule page at GoCreighton.com has direct links to each broadcast, which even more specifics provided at http://GoCreighton.com/flosports.
Only Creighton's matches during the Bluejay Invitational will feature announcers. Friday's CU match vs. Ball State will be called by Noah Sullinger and Shannon Smolinski, while CU's contests against LSU and UNI will be announced by Jon Schriner and Kate Elman.
The audio from Schriner and Elman in Saturday and Sunday's CU matches will also be simulcast on 1180 the Zone (KZOT), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1180.
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 #20 Creighton
Creighton returns five starters from last season's 27-5 squad that reached an 11th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and its eighth BIG EAST Tournament crown in the past nine years. Despite all that success, CU is picked to finish second by league coaches in 2023.
The Bluejays return four All-BIG EAST selections from a year ago, a group led by 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis (4.09 kps., 3.36 dps., 0.45 saps.). Sis was named BIG EAST Tournament MVP in both 2021 and 2022 and Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023.
Also back are all-league picks Ava Martin (4.45 kps.), Kiana Schmitt (2.73 kps., .407%, 1.00 bps.) and Kendra Wait (10.45 aps., 3.36 dps., .407%). Senior Ellie Bolton (4.82 dps.) won a tight battle for libero in fall camp and was named MVP of the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier to open the season.
Creighton picked up transfers Ellie Bichelmeyer (Rice) and Emma Ziegler (Denver) to bolster a top-25 recruiting class led by top-40 recruits Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Ava TeStrake, but it was Sydney Breissinger (3.27 dps.) who saw the most action on the opening weekend.
CU averaged 15.36 kills, 1.36 aces, 19.00 digs and 1.82 blocks per set while hitting .265 last weekend.
Scouting Ball State
Ball State went 2-1 last weekend, sweeping Gonzaga and Purdue Fort Wayne but losing in four sets to Oklahoma.
Four players collected between 21-29 kills last weekend, a group consisting of Marie Plitt (2.90 kps., .431%), Madison Buckley (2.70 kps., .375%), Cait Snyder (2.67 kps.) and Lauren Gilliland (2.10 kps., .340%, 1.00 bps.).
Megan Wielonski (10.60 aps., 0.60 saps.) directs the offense and Havyn Gates (3.70 dps.) serves as libero.
The Cardinals, who went 24-9 a season ago, were unanimous preseason favorites to win the West Division of the Mid-American Conference, with Plitt and Wielonski being named Preseason All-MAC.
The Cardinals averaged 13.70 kills, 1.30 aces, 15.00 digs and 1.90 blocks per set while hitting .283 last weekend.
Scouting LSU
LSU is 1-1 after splitting five-set matches in Baton Rouge last weekend against perennial power UCLA. Both LSU and UCLA are now getting votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll.
Freshman Jurnee Robinson (4.50 kps., .309%) led the Tigers offensively in both contests, and was supplemented by 2022 AVCA All-South Region pick Sanaa Dotson (2.40 kps.) and Wisconsin transfer Jade Demps (2.00 kps.).
Maddie Waak (9.30 aps.) is the Tigers setter and Erin Carmichael (2.70 dps.) the LSU libero.
As a team, LSU averages 12.00 kills, 10.90 digs, 1.90 blocks and 2.00 aces per set while hitting .247.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is 1-2 this season after going 1-2 in Kalamazoo last weekend. The Panthers beat Milwaukee (3-0) but were beaten by Villanova (3-2) and Western Michigan (3-1).
Kira Fallert (3.25 kps.), Olivia Tjernagel (2.75 kps., .310%, 1.50 bps.) and Emily Holterhaus (2.25 kps.) carry the load on offense.
Setter Tayler Alden (8.17 aps.) and libero Erin Powers (4.75 dps.) are also difference-makers for the defending Missouri Valley Conference champs.
As a team, UNI averages 13.42 kills, 15.00 digs, 2.08 blocks and 1.25 aces per set while hitting .199.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 443-185 record in her 21st season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to nine straight BIG EAST titles (2014-22), and 10 league crowns in the last 11 years. Booth led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's (2015, 2016) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only 12 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 12 seasons (including 2023), 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 Adam Kessenich.
Series History vs. Ball State
Creighton swept Ball State (25-22, 25-14, 25-21) on Sept. 7, 2012 in Greeley, Colo., in the only previous meeting between the schools.
Leah McNary (13), Melanie Jereb (12) and Heather Thorson (11) had double-digit kills for CU in the contest to help the Jays hit .373. Kate Elman, who will broadcast Creighton's contests vs. LSU and UNI this weekend, added a team-high 11 digs in the seventh match of her career.
Series History vs. LSU
LSU won the only previous meeting against Creighton, winning a 3-2 match (22-25,16-25,25-18,25-19,15-10) at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Aug. 30, 2008.
Kyna Washington led LSU with 16 kills and 16 digs in the victory, while Jessica Houts had 18 kills and six blocks for CU in the setback.
The contest was the first time in 30 matches against a top-25 team that Creighton had won multiple sets (it has done it 31 times since), and also snapped CU's 56-match win streak when up 2-0 at intermission.
Series History vs. Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa owns a 42-14 record all-time against Creighton, including an 18-5 lead in Omaha.
After winning just three of the first 43 meetings, Creighton has won 11 of the last 13 match-ups in the series, including five in a row. CU's 11 wins match UNI's Valley rival Illinois State (11) for the most against the Panthers since 2012.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 14-23 vs. Northern Iowa and 14-23 vs. Bobbi Petersen. Petersen is 30-14 overall against Creighton.
Six of CU's 14 wins against the Panthers have come in five sets. In 56 all-time meetings, Creighton has swept the Panthers just seven times, but it's happened three times in the last 20 months.
Creighton's last nine victories over Northern Iowa have come in six different states (three times in Nebraska, twice in Kentucky, and once each in Iowa, California, Kansas, Illinois).
Northern Iowa is 14-0 all-time when ranked and facing Creighton. Creighton is 8-1 all-time when ranked when facing UNI. Oddly, the teams have never met when both were ranked.
The Gauntlet Continues
Creighton faces another challenging non-conference weekend ahead, taking on the preseason favorites in the Mid-American (Ball State) and Missouri Valley (UNI) Conferences, as well as an LSU team getting votes in this week's AVCA poll.
All told, nine of Creighton's 11 non-conference opponents owned 20 or more wins last season, combining to go 240-112 (.682).
All 11 of the foes owned a top-85 RPI, 10 appeared in the postseason and four won a conference title last season.
Old MVC Rivals Get Reacquainted
Sunday's match-up with Northern Iowa will be Creighton's 57th 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 eight of the previous nine campaigns as part of a round-robin tournament that also included Kentucky and USC. UNI also visited Creighton in 2020 (spring of 2021) in a non-conference battle.
Creighton is 9-2 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.
Booth's daughter, Reese Booth, has verbally committed to play volleyball starting next fall at UNI. A setter at Elkhorn North High School just outside of Omaha, Reese Booth has helped the Wolves to back-to-back appearances in the state final.
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. He is also the winningest soccer coach in UNI history.
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 two teams (No. 20 Creighton and vote-getter LSU) 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 28 teams are a collective 54-24 with 13 titles.
Each of the past 10 (and 13 of 17 overall) Bluejay Invitationals have been won by a team that entered the weekend in the top-25 or receiving votes.
In all but one occasion (2013) there's been at least one team getting votes, the team to win it was the highest-ranked team coming in, though it's worth noting that in 2010 and 2011 none of the participants were 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) Pacific 3-0
2015 (RV) Creighton 2-1
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 3-0
2022 #17 Creighton 2-1
2022 #25 USC 1-2
2023 #20 Creighton TBD
2023 (RV) LSU TBD
Bluejay Invitational History
This will be the 18th edition of the Bluejay Invitational, where host Creighton is 31-17 all-time in the event. The Bluejays have never gone winless in the event, but 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), Creighton (2021) and Kentucky (2022).
Between 17 previous Bluejay Invitationals, (2005-19), two Creighton First Serve Festivals (1996-97), four Creighton Classics (2011, 2014, 2015, 2019), one MVC Tournament (2009) and five BIG EAST Tournaments (2013, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022), Creighton has won nine of the 29 tournaments (excluding NCAA Tournament action) 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 and the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament, which means that CU has won at least one home tournament each of the previous six seasons.
More Bluejay Invitational History
Entering this fall there have been 34 schools (besides Creighton) to play in the Bluejay Invitational, including two appearances each by UNI, Kentucky, USC, Omaha, Illinois, Kansas, Northern Colorado, Iowa State, Wichita State and Lipscomb. This weekend UNI will become the first team to make three trips to the event.
Creighton's 31 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).
In addition to UNI making its third appearance (2017, 2022) will be the second appearance in the Bluejay Invitational for LSU (also 2008) and first trip for Ball State.
Longitude Aptitude
Teams located west of Creighton are a combined 24-38 all-time with four Bluejay Invitational titles, while teams to the east of Creighton are 37-37 with nine titles. Creighton owns the other four titles, and is 31-17 in the event. Of this year's field, LSU, Northern Iowa and Ball State are all east of Omaha.
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.
Home Opener History
Creighton enters Friday's match vs. Ball State with a 19-10 mark in home openers, including a 14-6 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 12-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena, which will be Friday vs. Ball State.
After A Home Loss
Friday's test against Ball State will be Creighton's first match inside D.J. Sokol Arena since dropping an NCAA Tournament match to Auburn 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.
Taryn Kloth Starred At Creighton & LSU
One of the best beach volleyball players in the world is Taryn Kloth. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native became the 15th player in history to earn All-America honors in both indoor and beach volleyball, doing so at Creighton (indoor) and LSU (beach).
Kloth arrived at Creighton in the fall of 2015 as the nation's No. 18 recruit. She won four BIG EAST regular-season titles and four BIG EAST Tournament titles, helping Creighton to its first Sweet 16 (2015) and first Elite Eight (2016).
As a Bluejay, Kloth ranks fourth in school history with 1,427 kills, fifth with 1,625.5 points, fifth with 3,615 attack attempts, sixth with 133 matches played, seventh with 3.09 kills per set and eighth with 3.52 points per set. Kloth was a two-time All-American and named BIG EAST Tournament MVP in 2017 for the Jays.
Kloth then headed to LSU in the spring of 2019 to play beach volleyball competitively for the first time. She went 18-9 in her first year, then was a perfect 14-0 on Court 4 in the spring of 2020 before COVID-19 stopped her season. Given the chance for an extra season, Kloth capitalized with partner Kristen Nuss. The duo went 36-0 on Court 1 and earned National Pair of the Year honors. All told, Kloth would win the final 50 beach matches of her collegiate career, dropping just four sets in the process.
Kloth and Nuss then turned professional in the spring of 2021, making history when they won their pro debut. The pair has won three titles in 2023, are currently listed as the third-best tandem in the world in the latest FIVB rankings, and the No. 2 seed for the upcoming World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Jays Earn Tourney Title
Creighton opened the season by winning the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier at Purdue on Aug. 25-27.
It's the 12th straight season that Creighton has won at least one tournament, a streak that started in 2012.
During that span, the Bluejays have won 26 tournament titles, not to mention 10 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton's Tournament Titles Since 2012
Year Titles Won Tourney Hosts
2012 3 USF, UNC, MVC
2013 1 BGSU
2014 1 CU, BIG EAST
2015 1 BIG EAST
2016 1 BIG EAST
2017 4 WASH, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2018 3 SMU, CU, BIG EAST
2019 2 UNI, CU
2020 1 BIG EAST
2021 5 MIZZ, UK, CU, WSU, BIG EAST
2022 3 WYO, UNO, BIG EAST
2023 1 Purdue
All Or Nothing
Creighton just can't seem to play a four-set match. Believe or it not, the Jays have played 25 straight matches that have lasted either three sets or five sets since its last four-set contest, a 3-1 win over Kansas State on Sept. 17, 2022.
Since that last four-set match, Creighton is 17-1 in three-set battles and 4-3 in five-set marathons.
In the last four years, Creighton has as many five-set losses (going 11-7) as it does in three-set (51-3) and four-set (10-4) matches combined.
Sis Eyes 1,000 Kills
Norah Sis stands 31 kills shy of becoming the 16th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone.
Sis has played in 68 career matches. Currently Melissa Walsh owns the program record by reaching 1,000 kills the fastest, needing just 70 contests.
Career Kills
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
11. Allie Oelke 445 1,126 2007-10
12. Kelli Browning 424 1,104 2011-14
13. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
14. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
Jaela Zimmerman 357 1,000 2018-22
16. Norah Sis 240 969 2021-Pr.
17. Jess Bird 377 965 2013-16
Megan Ballenger 450 965 2016-19
19. Keeley Davis 383 962 2019-22
20. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters 73 08/25/17 vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff 76 10/22/04 Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha 83 09/13/97 at Drake
Kelly Goc 87 11/24/06 vs Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts 90 11/08/08 Illinois State
Leah McNary 96 09/12/14 Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik 99 11/15/08 at Evansville
Shelly Kapler 103 11/18/99 vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth 103 08/31/18 vs. NC State
Allie Oelke 107 10/09/10 Wichita State
Kelli Browning 110 10/26/14 DePaul
Jaela Zimmerman 111 11/13/22 Seton Hall
Lauren Smith 119 10/07/16 at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson 120 09/30/17 at St. John's
Bolton & Martin Take Home Hardware
Creighton libero Ellie Bolton was named MVP and joined on the All-Tournament Team by outside hitter Ava Martin at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier, which concluded on Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Playing as CU's primary libero for the first time since her freshman campaign, Bolton averaged a team-leading 4.82 digs per set over 11 sets. She had eight digs in the season-opening win vs. Loyola (Chicago), then added 22 digs, two assists and an ace in a 3-0 sweep of No. 16 Purdue. She concluded the weekend with 23 digs, eight assists, eight digs and an ace in Sunday's five-set contest against Duke.
The recognition is the first career All-Tournament Team honor for the Shawnee, Kan., native.
Martin was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading Creighton with 4.45 kills per set as the sophomore hit .312. Martin got better with each match throughout the weekend. She opened with 14 kills and four digs on .265 hitting in the win over Loyola (Chicago), then produced 15 kills and six digs on .268 hitting in the sweep of No. 16 Purdue. She closed out her weekend with 20 kills and eight digs on .405 hitting.
The Overland Park, Kan., product was previously selected to the All-Tournament Team at last year's BIG EAST Championships.
Martin Earns BIG EAST Award
Creighton sophomore Ava Martin is the first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week of the season after helping the Bluejay Volleyball team to a title at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier in West Lafayette, Ind., last weekend.
Martin was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting a BIG EAST-leading 4.45 kills per set. Martin got better with each match throughout the weekend. She opened with 14 kills and four digs on .265 hitting in the win over defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Loyola (Chicago), then produced 15 kills and six digs on .268 hitting in the sweep of No. 16 Purdue to snap the Boilermakers 35-match home win streak in non-conference play. She closed out her weekend with 20 kills and eight digs on .405 hitting against Duke, with the kill and dig totals both ranking as the second-most for a match in her career.
All told, the Overland Park, Kan., native hit .312 for the week and also contributed 1.64 digs per set.
This is the first time Martin has been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, though she was a four-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week last fall when she was voted BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin started her sophomore season with matches of 14 (Loyola), 15 (Purdue) and 20 (Duke) kills, good enough to own the BIG EAST lead with 4.45 kills per set.
Martin also finished her freshman season last fall with matches of 22 (Marquette) and 14 (Auburn) kills.
Both those items put her in select company.
Martin is the third Bluejay ever with three straight matches of 14 or more kills to start the season, joining Norah Sis (2022) and Leah Ratzlaff (2003). Should Martin own 14 kills or more on Friday vs. Ball State, she would be the first Bluejay to do it in the first four matches of a season since the program's 1994 reinstatement.
With 14 kills on Friday vs. Ball State, Martin could become CU's first player with six straight matches of 14 or more kills since Amanda Cvejdlik from Oct. 22-Nov. 12, 2005. Should Martin do it against both Ball State and LSU, she'd be the first Bluejay with seven straight matches of 14+ kills since Ratzlaff from Oct. 1-Oct. 16, 2004.
Avoiding Losing Streaks
One key to Creighton's extended success over the last decade has been its ability to bounce back after a loss.
The Bluejays have won their last 18 contests immediately following a loss and have not dropped consecutive matches since opening the season 0-2 to begin the 2019 campaign with back-to-back losses to No. 2 Nebraska and No. 20 Baylor in Lincoln, Neb.
Creighton has also won its last 11 matches after a five-set loss, a streak that dates back to early in the 2016 campaign.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 27-5 last season, won a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title, won its eight BIG EAST Tournament in the past nine seasons, and played in its 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Tournament MVP. She was joined on the All-BIG EAST squad by Kiana Schmitt, Kendra Wait and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ava Martin.
CU posted three top-25 victories in the season, topping No. 25 USC (Sept. 2), No. 16 Marquette (Oct. 14) and No. 14 Marquette (Nov. 26).
A Head Start
Creighton got a leg up on the competition thanks to having 10 extra practices in May and a trip to Italy and Slovenia from May 31 - June 11th.
Every member of the current team except Emma Ziegler was on the trip, which also included four matches.
Hello World!
Two Bluejay freshmen (Jaya Johnson and Destiny Ndam-Simpson) could make their Creighton debuts this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts.
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
2021 Norah Sis• 3 11 4 28 .250 0 1 5 4
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2021 Kendra Wait• 3 5 0 9 .556 32 0 7 2
2019 Ellie Bichelmeyer% 2 3 3 10 .000 0 0 1 2
2022 Ava Martin 1 3 0 4 .750 0 0 0 1
2023 Ellie Bichelmeyer• 3 3 2 17 .059 0 0 1 2
2023 Ava TeStrake 2 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 0 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Abbey Milner 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Emma Ziegler# 1 0 0 0 --- 2 0 0 0
2022 Sky McCune• 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 5 0
2022 Ann Marie Remmes 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 1
2023 Emma Ziegler 2 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
2023 Sydney Breissinger 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 7 0
2023 Audrey Clark 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2023 Morgan Colangelo 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
#Ziegler's stats from debut at Denver
%Bichelmeyer's stats from debut at Rice
Don't I Know You?
There's more familiarity than you might think between Creighton and its opponents this week.
Ball State setter Lindsey Green was a high school classmate of Creighton freshman Sydney Breissinger at Ursuline Academy in Ohio.
Reese Booth, the daughter of Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, has committed to play volleyball at Northern Iowa starting next fall. Reese Booth currently plays for two-time state runner-up Elkhorn North High School.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 18th in the AVCA preseason poll. It's the ninth time in the past 11 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 last 15 seasons, 275-of-375 teams (73.3 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and since 2008 340-of-375 teams (90.7 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but No. 12 UCLA, No. 17 Illinois and No. 22 Utah reached the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 12th 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 27-5 21st
2023 18th TBD TBD
Top 25 History
Creighton is 174-41 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 19-23 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-1 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 38 of Creighton's 70 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 263-32 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 94 home matches over unranked teams and all but 11 of its last 123 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last nine seasons (2015-23). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Creighton is 24-84 all-time against ranked teams and 13 of those top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (8) or Kentucky (5).
The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 19-23)
Home: 8-9 Away: 6-8 Neutral: 5-6
Date Winner Loser CU Score
11/19/12 #11 Minnesota #21 Creighton 1-3
08/30/13 #25 Creighton #13 BYU 3-1
09/14/13 #11 UCLA #24 Creighton 1-3
09/16/13 #7 Hawaii #23 Creighton 2-3
08/30/14 #22 Kansas #23 Creighton 1-3
09/03/16 #23 Kentucky #22 Creighton 0-3
12/02/16 #21 Creighton #4 Kansas 3-2
12/09/16 #21 Creighton #17 Michigan 3-2
12/10/16 #5 Texas #21 Creighton 0-3
08/26/17 #9 Creighton #3 Washington 3-1
09/01/17 #7 Creighton #13 Kentucky 3-0
09/02/17 #18 USC #7 Creighton 0-3
09/08/17 #17 Purdue #9 Creighton 1-3
09/09/17 #9 Creighton #7 Kansas 3-0
09/16/17 #19 Iowa State #8 Creighton 2-3
12/12/17 #12 Michigan St. #15 Creighton 1-3
08/24/18 #13 Creighton #5 Kentucky 3-2
08/25/18 #10 USC #13 Creighton 2-3
09/06/18 #7 Nebraska #14 Creighton 2-3
09/15/18 #8 Illinois #10 Creighton 1-3
09/23/18 #10 Creighton #21 Marquette 3-0
10/26/18 #10 Creighton #18 Marquette 3-1
11/24/18 #9 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-1
12/01/18 #22 Washington #9 Creighton 0-3
08/30/19 #2 Nebraska #18 Creighton 1-3
08/31/19 #20 Baylor #18 Creighton 0-3
09/06/19 #23 Creighton #12 Kentucky 3-1
09/07/19 #23 Creighton #15 USC 3-1
09/14/19 #12 Washington #17 Creighton 1-3
10/12/19 #13 Creighton #10 Marquette 3-2
11/22/19 #12 Creighton #9 Marquette 3-1
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
09/02/22 #17 Creighton #25 USC 3-1
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky #17 Creighton 1-3
09/07/22 #2 Nebraska #17 Creighton 2-3
10/14/22 #21 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-2
11/19/22 #16 Marquette #11 Creighton 0-3
11/26/22 #15 Creighton #14 Marquette 3-2
08/26/23 #18 Creighton #16 Purdue 3-0
109 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked in the most recent AVCA poll for the 109th time in program history. That's 43rd-most of all programs in NCAA history, and close behind Loyola Marymount (114), Santa Clara (113) and Missouri (110) for a spot in the top-40.
All 109 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
The Bluejays are one of 18 schools (along with Baylor, BYU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 32 polls.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Sydney Breissinger, Audrey Clark, Jaya Johnson, Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Ava TeStrake was recognized as the nation's No. 22 class by PrepVolleyball.
Ndam-Simpson was listed as the nation's No. 21 recruit, TeStrake was tabbed 37th-best and Breissinger No. 139. Creighton now owns nine players on its 2023 roster who were Top 150 recruits by PrepVolleyball.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004; expanded to 150 in 2021)
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
41 2022 Ava Martin
55 2022 Skylar McCune
21 2023 Destiny Ndam-Simpson
37 2023 Ava TeStrake
139 2023 Sydney Breissinger
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton
current Bluejays in bold italic
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)
2023 22nd (Breissinger, Clark, Johnson, Ndam-Simpson, TeStrake)
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-18 letterwinners to the court from last season, including five starters.
From last year's team, only Emily Bressman, Bethany Clapp, Keeley Davis, Jazz Schmidt, Megan Skovsende, Allison Whitten and Jaela Zimmerman are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 524.3 of a possible 700% back (74.9 percent).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1,384 (86.2%) 221 (13.8%)
Blocks 204 (84.3%) 38 (15.7%)
Matches Started 154 (80.2%) 192 (19.8%)
Kills 1,329 (77.6%) 383 (22.4%)
Points 1648 (76.9%) 494 (23.1%)
Aces 115 (61.2%) 73 (38.8%)
Digs 1142 (57.9%) 830 (42.1%)
A Bunch of Winners
Creighton owned 58 wins during the previous two seasons, fourth-most in the nation in that span and trailing only Final Four qualifiers Louisville (63), Pitt (61) and Wisconsin (59).
The only teams with 27 or more wins each of the past two campaigns are Creighton, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Texas, UCF, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
No Losers Here
Creighton has been nearly as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
Creighton, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Texas, Towson, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.
If you go back two years more, the nation's only teams to lose six times or less in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons are Creighton, Pittsburgh and Texas.
11 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous 11 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the previous 11 NCAA Tournaments (2012-22). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
A Great Start
Norah Sis entered her junior season with 924 kills in her career. The 924 kills was the second-most ever by a Bluejay in their first two seasons, trailing only Jaali Winters' 994.
Winters ended her career with a school-record 1,843 kills.
Most Kills, After 2 Seasons at Creighton
Kills Yr1 Yr2 Name Year
994 546 448 Jaali Winters 2015 & 2016
924 435 489 Norah Sis 2021 & 2022
769 341 428 Melissa Walsh 1998 & 1999
733 270 463 Alicia Runge 2009 & 2010 (Jr. & Sr.)
696 180 516 Leah Ratzlaff 2002 & 2003
653 267 386 Jessica Houts 2005 & 2006
640 225 415 Amanda Cvejdlik 2005 & 2006
Setting The Table
Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Kendra Wait has started all 68 matches she's played in during her career, with Creighton going 60-9 in those contests.
Last Friday against Loyola (Chicago), Wait became the first Bluejay setter to start three straight season-openers since Megan Bober did so all four years of her career from 2009-12.
Besides Wait and Bober, the only other women to start three or more season-openers at setter have been Korie Lebeda (2005-08), Kailey Reyes (1998-2001) and Melissa Weisensee (1994-97).
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 443-3 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 68-37 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won 18 of its last 25 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019, at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign and at Omaha and UConn in 2022.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 18-5 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton's six victories in five-set matches last season broke the program record of five previously done in 2003, 2011 and 2015. The nine five-set matches in 2022 was also a record.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 4-2 12-4
2021 1-1 31-4
2022 6-3 27-5
2023 0-1 2-1
Total 83-65 536-337
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 10 conference regular-season titles. All but two of Creighton's nine crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
Creighton has also won nine conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2022
Regular-Season League Tournament
10 (2 shared) Creighton 9 Creighton
10 (1) Texas 8 Dayton
10 (5) Western Kentucky 8 Western Kentucky
9 Fairfield 7 Fairfield
8 BYU 6 American
8 (1) Colorado State 6 LIU
Bouncing Back
The Creighton staff is quick to credit athletic performance coach Brad Schmidt for helping the team get stronger during the off-season and maintaining that strength during the season.
Need evidence of that? Since Aug. 25, 2018, Creighton is 17-2 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
Friday's contest against Ball State comes on the heels of last Sunday's five-set contest vs. Duke.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Creighton earned 4-of-11 first place votes and 94 of a possible 100 points. That was just behind of Marquette's 97 points and the other seven votes for first place.
Xavier (78) was picked third, just ahead of St. John's (64) and Connecticut (63). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were DePaul (59), Villanova (46), Butler (40), Seton Hall (30), Providence (18) and Georgetown (16).
Creighton also had three women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Ava Martin as well as unanimous selections Kendra Wait and Norah Sis. Sis was also tabbed the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight fall.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 18 of 20 years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including 10 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 1st - -
2023 2nd ??? ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 11th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 92-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (83-3 in the regular-season, 9-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 76-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 68-1 league mark and a 8-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Kiana Schmitt is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (with 28 straight wins), and 105-22 in sets.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. In both 2021 and 2022, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the tournament title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Aug. 29, 2023
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (10) 154 14 256 66
Marquette (9) 137 28 240 74
Xavier 97 69 154 140
Butler 91 77 161 137
Villanova (1) 83 85 156 136
St. John's (1) 81 87 176 138
Seton Hall (1) 72 95 143 155
DePaul 46 122 110 174
Georgetown 35 125 89 186
Connecticut# 27 17 46 34
Providence* 26 126 95 170
*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 367-11 (.971) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 310-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 234-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 120-1 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Conversely, the Jays are 17-204 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-105 (.125) under Booth. Those 17 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
10/07/22 at UConn 25-15, 25-12, 15-13 Booth
10/14/22 #16 Marquette 25-19, 25-16, 15-8 Booth
A Dozen, Cousin
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 12 NCAA Tournaments. That's more than any other coach in Creighton history.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 12
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 8
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Jim Flanery Women's Basketball 6
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 374-35 (.914) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 69-150 (.315) under Booth when it drops the first set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 136-5 in its last 141 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, on Sept. 3, 2022 to No. 16 Kentucky and on Dec. 2, 2022 to Auburn.
Creighton has gone 106-5 in its last 111 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 12-16 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 147-3 in its last 150 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team has at least 11 matches (Loyola Chicago, Purdue, Ball State, LSU, UNI, Nebraska, Iowa State, High Point, Minnesota and Marquette 2x) scheduled against teams that made the 2022 NCAA Tournament. So far, they're 2-0 against that group.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 96-105 since.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
2022 5-4
2023 2-0 so far
TOTAL 99-140
TOTAL Under Booth 96-105
9 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Regular-season champions from 2014-22, Creighton is the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win nine straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win nine or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
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 443 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 8/30/23)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 643*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 528*#
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 443*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 401*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
#currently just the women's tennis coach
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 9-12 against ranked non-conference foes over the last seven seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year Non-Con W-L vs. Ranked Non-Con Final W-L
2003 3-8 0-0 12-18
2004 8-2 0-1 18-11
2005 6-5 0-3 16-14
2006 8-3 0-1 21-10
2007 6-5 0-3 21-10
2008 3-5 0-3 18-9
2009 3-8 0-3 14-17
2010 5-5 0-1 21-12
2011 5-7 0-1 17-14
2012 9-2 0-1 29-4
2013 9-3 1-2 23-9
2014 7-6 0-5 25-9
2015 6-7 1-4 27-9
2016 6-6 0-4 29-7
2017 7-4 3-3 26-7
2018 8-4 1-3 29-5
2019 7-3 2-3 25-6
2020 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 31-4
2022 8-3 1-2 27-5
2023 2-1 1-0 2-1 so far
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 171 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 28 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Marquette (5), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 18-1 - 18-1
Connecticut 2-1 1-0 3-1
DePaul 20-0 1-0 21-0
Georgetown 18-0 - 18-0
Marquette 16-4 6-1 22-5
Providence 15-0 - 15-0
Seton Hall 15-3 2-0 17-3
St. John's 16-2 0-1 16-3
Villanova 15-3 3-0 18-3
Xavier 19-0 4-0 23-0
Total 154-14 17-2 171-16
President Elect Booth
Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is the current President-Elect of the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Booth began her service on January 1, 2023 then will become AVCA President in 2024. She is part of the 17-member AVCA Board of Directors, which includes elected representatives, appointed voting members for Diversity Development and Legislation, and non-voting members for Education and Awards.
She will finish out her term as Past President in 2026.
Booth is in her 21st season as the head women's volleyball coach at Creighton.
LSU vs. UNI • Friday, Sept. 1 • 3:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | UNI NOTES | LSU NOTES |
Ball State at #20 Creighton • Friday, Sept. 1 • 6 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | BSU NOTES |
UNI vs. Ball State • Saturday, Sept. 2 • 2:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | UNI NOTES | BSU NOTES |
LSU at #20 Creighton • Saturday, Sept. 2 • 5 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | LSU NOTES |
Ball State vs. LSU • Sunday, Sept. 3 • 2:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | LSU NOTES | BSU NOTES |
Northern Iowa at #20 Creighton • Sunday, Sept. 3 • 2:30 p.m. | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | UNI NOTES |
This Weekend
No. 20 Creighton opens the home portion of its 2023 schedule this weekend when it hosts the Bluejay Invitational against three teams with postseason aspirations.
The tournament begins on Friday, Sept. 1 at 3:30 p.m. when LSU (1-1) meets Northern Iowa (1-2), preceding Creighton's (2-1) match-up against Ball State (2-1) at 6 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 2, Northern Iowa meets Ball State at 2:30 p.m., followed by Creighton welcoming LSU at 5 p.m.
The event wraps up on Sunday, Sept. 3., when Ball State takes on LSU at Noon before closing when Northern Iowa battles against Creighton at 2:30 p.m.
D.J. Sokol Arena (2,500) in Omaha, Neb., will host the action.
Weekend Promotions
Friday will feature free blue t-shirts to the first 500 fans.
Saturday will feature a poster-making station.
Sunday includes a free tailgate including pizza and drinks starting at 1 p.m. outside of D.J. Sokol Arena as part of National Tailgating Day.
Broadcast Information
All six matches of the Bluejay Invitational will be streamed on FloSports, which requires a subscription. The Volleyball schedule page at GoCreighton.com has direct links to each broadcast, which even more specifics provided at http://GoCreighton.com/flosports.
Only Creighton's matches during the Bluejay Invitational will feature announcers. Friday's CU match vs. Ball State will be called by Noah Sullinger and Shannon Smolinski, while CU's contests against LSU and UNI will be announced by Jon Schriner and Kate Elman.
The audio from Schriner and Elman in Saturday and Sunday's CU matches will also be simulcast on 1180 the Zone (KZOT), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1180.
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 #20 Creighton
Creighton returns five starters from last season's 27-5 squad that reached an 11th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and its eighth BIG EAST Tournament crown in the past nine years. Despite all that success, CU is picked to finish second by league coaches in 2023.
The Bluejays return four All-BIG EAST selections from a year ago, a group led by 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis (4.09 kps., 3.36 dps., 0.45 saps.). Sis was named BIG EAST Tournament MVP in both 2021 and 2022 and Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023.
Also back are all-league picks Ava Martin (4.45 kps.), Kiana Schmitt (2.73 kps., .407%, 1.00 bps.) and Kendra Wait (10.45 aps., 3.36 dps., .407%). Senior Ellie Bolton (4.82 dps.) won a tight battle for libero in fall camp and was named MVP of the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier to open the season.
Creighton picked up transfers Ellie Bichelmeyer (Rice) and Emma Ziegler (Denver) to bolster a top-25 recruiting class led by top-40 recruits Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Ava TeStrake, but it was Sydney Breissinger (3.27 dps.) who saw the most action on the opening weekend.
CU averaged 15.36 kills, 1.36 aces, 19.00 digs and 1.82 blocks per set while hitting .265 last weekend.
Scouting Ball State
Ball State went 2-1 last weekend, sweeping Gonzaga and Purdue Fort Wayne but losing in four sets to Oklahoma.
Four players collected between 21-29 kills last weekend, a group consisting of Marie Plitt (2.90 kps., .431%), Madison Buckley (2.70 kps., .375%), Cait Snyder (2.67 kps.) and Lauren Gilliland (2.10 kps., .340%, 1.00 bps.).
Megan Wielonski (10.60 aps., 0.60 saps.) directs the offense and Havyn Gates (3.70 dps.) serves as libero.
The Cardinals, who went 24-9 a season ago, were unanimous preseason favorites to win the West Division of the Mid-American Conference, with Plitt and Wielonski being named Preseason All-MAC.
The Cardinals averaged 13.70 kills, 1.30 aces, 15.00 digs and 1.90 blocks per set while hitting .283 last weekend.
Scouting LSU
LSU is 1-1 after splitting five-set matches in Baton Rouge last weekend against perennial power UCLA. Both LSU and UCLA are now getting votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll.
Freshman Jurnee Robinson (4.50 kps., .309%) led the Tigers offensively in both contests, and was supplemented by 2022 AVCA All-South Region pick Sanaa Dotson (2.40 kps.) and Wisconsin transfer Jade Demps (2.00 kps.).
Maddie Waak (9.30 aps.) is the Tigers setter and Erin Carmichael (2.70 dps.) the LSU libero.
As a team, LSU averages 12.00 kills, 10.90 digs, 1.90 blocks and 2.00 aces per set while hitting .247.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is 1-2 this season after going 1-2 in Kalamazoo last weekend. The Panthers beat Milwaukee (3-0) but were beaten by Villanova (3-2) and Western Michigan (3-1).
Kira Fallert (3.25 kps.), Olivia Tjernagel (2.75 kps., .310%, 1.50 bps.) and Emily Holterhaus (2.25 kps.) carry the load on offense.
Setter Tayler Alden (8.17 aps.) and libero Erin Powers (4.75 dps.) are also difference-makers for the defending Missouri Valley Conference champs.
As a team, UNI averages 13.42 kills, 15.00 digs, 2.08 blocks and 1.25 aces per set while hitting .199.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 443-185 record in her 21st season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to nine straight BIG EAST titles (2014-22), and 10 league crowns in the last 11 years. Booth led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's (2015, 2016) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only 12 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 12 seasons (including 2023), 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 Adam Kessenich.
Series History vs. Ball State
Creighton swept Ball State (25-22, 25-14, 25-21) on Sept. 7, 2012 in Greeley, Colo., in the only previous meeting between the schools.
Leah McNary (13), Melanie Jereb (12) and Heather Thorson (11) had double-digit kills for CU in the contest to help the Jays hit .373. Kate Elman, who will broadcast Creighton's contests vs. LSU and UNI this weekend, added a team-high 11 digs in the seventh match of her career.
Series History vs. LSU
LSU won the only previous meeting against Creighton, winning a 3-2 match (22-25,16-25,25-18,25-19,15-10) at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Aug. 30, 2008.
Kyna Washington led LSU with 16 kills and 16 digs in the victory, while Jessica Houts had 18 kills and six blocks for CU in the setback.
The contest was the first time in 30 matches against a top-25 team that Creighton had won multiple sets (it has done it 31 times since), and also snapped CU's 56-match win streak when up 2-0 at intermission.
Series History vs. Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa owns a 42-14 record all-time against Creighton, including an 18-5 lead in Omaha.
After winning just three of the first 43 meetings, Creighton has won 11 of the last 13 match-ups in the series, including five in a row. CU's 11 wins match UNI's Valley rival Illinois State (11) for the most against the Panthers since 2012.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 14-23 vs. Northern Iowa and 14-23 vs. Bobbi Petersen. Petersen is 30-14 overall against Creighton.
Six of CU's 14 wins against the Panthers have come in five sets. In 56 all-time meetings, Creighton has swept the Panthers just seven times, but it's happened three times in the last 20 months.
Creighton's last nine victories over Northern Iowa have come in six different states (three times in Nebraska, twice in Kentucky, and once each in Iowa, California, Kansas, Illinois).
Northern Iowa is 14-0 all-time when ranked and facing Creighton. Creighton is 8-1 all-time when ranked when facing UNI. Oddly, the teams have never met when both were ranked.
The Gauntlet Continues
Creighton faces another challenging non-conference weekend ahead, taking on the preseason favorites in the Mid-American (Ball State) and Missouri Valley (UNI) Conferences, as well as an LSU team getting votes in this week's AVCA poll.
All told, nine of Creighton's 11 non-conference opponents owned 20 or more wins last season, combining to go 240-112 (.682).
All 11 of the foes owned a top-85 RPI, 10 appeared in the postseason and four won a conference title last season.
Old MVC Rivals Get Reacquainted
Sunday's match-up with Northern Iowa will be Creighton's 57th 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 eight of the previous nine campaigns as part of a round-robin tournament that also included Kentucky and USC. UNI also visited Creighton in 2020 (spring of 2021) in a non-conference battle.
Creighton is 9-2 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.
Booth's daughter, Reese Booth, has verbally committed to play volleyball starting next fall at UNI. A setter at Elkhorn North High School just outside of Omaha, Reese Booth has helped the Wolves to back-to-back appearances in the state final.
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. He is also the winningest soccer coach in UNI history.
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 two teams (No. 20 Creighton and vote-getter LSU) 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 28 teams are a collective 54-24 with 13 titles.
Each of the past 10 (and 13 of 17 overall) Bluejay Invitationals have been won by a team that entered the weekend in the top-25 or receiving votes.
In all but one occasion (2013) there's been at least one team getting votes, the team to win it was the highest-ranked team coming in, though it's worth noting that in 2010 and 2011 none of the participants were 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) Pacific 3-0
2015 (RV) Creighton 2-1
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 3-0
2022 #17 Creighton 2-1
2022 #25 USC 1-2
2023 #20 Creighton TBD
2023 (RV) LSU TBD
Bluejay Invitational History
This will be the 18th edition of the Bluejay Invitational, where host Creighton is 31-17 all-time in the event. The Bluejays have never gone winless in the event, but 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), Creighton (2021) and Kentucky (2022).
Between 17 previous Bluejay Invitationals, (2005-19), two Creighton First Serve Festivals (1996-97), four Creighton Classics (2011, 2014, 2015, 2019), one MVC Tournament (2009) and five BIG EAST Tournaments (2013, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2022), Creighton has won nine of the 29 tournaments (excluding NCAA Tournament action) 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 and the 2022 BIG EAST Tournament, which means that CU has won at least one home tournament each of the previous six seasons.
More Bluejay Invitational History
Entering this fall there have been 34 schools (besides Creighton) to play in the Bluejay Invitational, including two appearances each by UNI, Kentucky, USC, Omaha, Illinois, Kansas, Northern Colorado, Iowa State, Wichita State and Lipscomb. This weekend UNI will become the first team to make three trips to the event.
Creighton's 31 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).
In addition to UNI making its third appearance (2017, 2022) will be the second appearance in the Bluejay Invitational for LSU (also 2008) and first trip for Ball State.
Longitude Aptitude
Teams located west of Creighton are a combined 24-38 all-time with four Bluejay Invitational titles, while teams to the east of Creighton are 37-37 with nine titles. Creighton owns the other four titles, and is 31-17 in the event. Of this year's field, LSU, Northern Iowa and Ball State are all east of Omaha.
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.
Home Opener History
Creighton enters Friday's match vs. Ball State with a 19-10 mark in home openers, including a 14-6 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Creighton is 12-2 all-time in its first home match of the season at D.J. Sokol Arena, which will be Friday vs. Ball State.
After A Home Loss
Friday's test against Ball State will be Creighton's first match inside D.J. Sokol Arena since dropping an NCAA Tournament match to Auburn 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.
Taryn Kloth Starred At Creighton & LSU
One of the best beach volleyball players in the world is Taryn Kloth. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native became the 15th player in history to earn All-America honors in both indoor and beach volleyball, doing so at Creighton (indoor) and LSU (beach).
Kloth arrived at Creighton in the fall of 2015 as the nation's No. 18 recruit. She won four BIG EAST regular-season titles and four BIG EAST Tournament titles, helping Creighton to its first Sweet 16 (2015) and first Elite Eight (2016).
As a Bluejay, Kloth ranks fourth in school history with 1,427 kills, fifth with 1,625.5 points, fifth with 3,615 attack attempts, sixth with 133 matches played, seventh with 3.09 kills per set and eighth with 3.52 points per set. Kloth was a two-time All-American and named BIG EAST Tournament MVP in 2017 for the Jays.
Kloth then headed to LSU in the spring of 2019 to play beach volleyball competitively for the first time. She went 18-9 in her first year, then was a perfect 14-0 on Court 4 in the spring of 2020 before COVID-19 stopped her season. Given the chance for an extra season, Kloth capitalized with partner Kristen Nuss. The duo went 36-0 on Court 1 and earned National Pair of the Year honors. All told, Kloth would win the final 50 beach matches of her collegiate career, dropping just four sets in the process.
Kloth and Nuss then turned professional in the spring of 2021, making history when they won their pro debut. The pair has won three titles in 2023, are currently listed as the third-best tandem in the world in the latest FIVB rankings, and the No. 2 seed for the upcoming World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Jays Earn Tourney Title
Creighton opened the season by winning the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier at Purdue on Aug. 25-27.
It's the 12th straight season that Creighton has won at least one tournament, a streak that started in 2012.
During that span, the Bluejays have won 26 tournament titles, not to mention 10 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton's Tournament Titles Since 2012
Year Titles Won Tourney Hosts
2012 3 USF, UNC, MVC
2013 1 BGSU
2014 1 CU, BIG EAST
2015 1 BIG EAST
2016 1 BIG EAST
2017 4 WASH, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2018 3 SMU, CU, BIG EAST
2019 2 UNI, CU
2020 1 BIG EAST
2021 5 MIZZ, UK, CU, WSU, BIG EAST
2022 3 WYO, UNO, BIG EAST
2023 1 Purdue
All Or Nothing
Creighton just can't seem to play a four-set match. Believe or it not, the Jays have played 25 straight matches that have lasted either three sets or five sets since its last four-set contest, a 3-1 win over Kansas State on Sept. 17, 2022.
Since that last four-set match, Creighton is 17-1 in three-set battles and 4-3 in five-set marathons.
In the last four years, Creighton has as many five-set losses (going 11-7) as it does in three-set (51-3) and four-set (10-4) matches combined.
Sis Eyes 1,000 Kills
Norah Sis stands 31 kills shy of becoming the 16th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone.
Sis has played in 68 career matches. Currently Melissa Walsh owns the program record by reaching 1,000 kills the fastest, needing just 70 contests.
Career Kills
Name Sets No. Years
1. Jaali Winters 494 1,843 2015-18
2. Leah Ratzlaff 409 1,622 2002-05
3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,596 1998-01
4. Taryn Kloth 462 1,427 2015-18
5. Kelly Goc 394 1,414 2004-07
6. Jessica Houts 451 1,385 2005-09
7. JoDe Cieloha 398 1,375 1994-97
8. Leah McNary 458 1,257 2011-14
9. Marysa Wilkinson 499 1,183 2014-17
10. Lauren Smith 511 1,160 2013-16
11. Allie Oelke 445 1,126 2007-10
12. Kelli Browning 424 1,104 2011-14
13. Amanda Cvejdlik 343 1,029 2005-08
14. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
Jaela Zimmerman 357 1,000 2018-22
16. Norah Sis 240 969 2021-Pr.
17. Jess Bird 377 965 2013-16
Megan Ballenger 450 965 2016-19
19. Keeley Davis 383 962 2019-22
20. Erin Swanson 319 955 1998-01
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Jaali Winters 73 08/25/17 vs. Saint Mary's
Leah Ratzlaff 76 10/22/04 Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha 83 09/13/97 at Drake
Kelly Goc 87 11/24/06 vs Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts 90 11/08/08 Illinois State
Leah McNary 96 09/12/14 Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik 99 11/15/08 at Evansville
Shelly Kapler 103 11/18/99 vs. Missouri St.
Taryn Kloth 103 08/31/18 vs. NC State
Allie Oelke 107 10/09/10 Wichita State
Kelli Browning 110 10/26/14 DePaul
Jaela Zimmerman 111 11/13/22 Seton Hall
Lauren Smith 119 10/07/16 at Villanova
Marysa Wilkinson 120 09/30/17 at St. John's
Bolton & Martin Take Home Hardware
Creighton libero Ellie Bolton was named MVP and joined on the All-Tournament Team by outside hitter Ava Martin at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier, which concluded on Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind.
Playing as CU's primary libero for the first time since her freshman campaign, Bolton averaged a team-leading 4.82 digs per set over 11 sets. She had eight digs in the season-opening win vs. Loyola (Chicago), then added 22 digs, two assists and an ace in a 3-0 sweep of No. 16 Purdue. She concluded the weekend with 23 digs, eight assists, eight digs and an ace in Sunday's five-set contest against Duke.
The recognition is the first career All-Tournament Team honor for the Shawnee, Kan., native.
Martin was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading Creighton with 4.45 kills per set as the sophomore hit .312. Martin got better with each match throughout the weekend. She opened with 14 kills and four digs on .265 hitting in the win over Loyola (Chicago), then produced 15 kills and six digs on .268 hitting in the sweep of No. 16 Purdue. She closed out her weekend with 20 kills and eight digs on .405 hitting.
The Overland Park, Kan., product was previously selected to the All-Tournament Team at last year's BIG EAST Championships.
Martin Earns BIG EAST Award
Creighton sophomore Ava Martin is the first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week of the season after helping the Bluejay Volleyball team to a title at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier in West Lafayette, Ind., last weekend.
Martin was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting a BIG EAST-leading 4.45 kills per set. Martin got better with each match throughout the weekend. She opened with 14 kills and four digs on .265 hitting in the win over defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Loyola (Chicago), then produced 15 kills and six digs on .268 hitting in the sweep of No. 16 Purdue to snap the Boilermakers 35-match home win streak in non-conference play. She closed out her weekend with 20 kills and eight digs on .405 hitting against Duke, with the kill and dig totals both ranking as the second-most for a match in her career.
All told, the Overland Park, Kan., native hit .312 for the week and also contributed 1.64 digs per set.
This is the first time Martin has been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, though she was a four-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week last fall when she was voted BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin started her sophomore season with matches of 14 (Loyola), 15 (Purdue) and 20 (Duke) kills, good enough to own the BIG EAST lead with 4.45 kills per set.
Martin also finished her freshman season last fall with matches of 22 (Marquette) and 14 (Auburn) kills.
Both those items put her in select company.
Martin is the third Bluejay ever with three straight matches of 14 or more kills to start the season, joining Norah Sis (2022) and Leah Ratzlaff (2003). Should Martin own 14 kills or more on Friday vs. Ball State, she would be the first Bluejay to do it in the first four matches of a season since the program's 1994 reinstatement.
With 14 kills on Friday vs. Ball State, Martin could become CU's first player with six straight matches of 14 or more kills since Amanda Cvejdlik from Oct. 22-Nov. 12, 2005. Should Martin do it against both Ball State and LSU, she'd be the first Bluejay with seven straight matches of 14+ kills since Ratzlaff from Oct. 1-Oct. 16, 2004.
Avoiding Losing Streaks
One key to Creighton's extended success over the last decade has been its ability to bounce back after a loss.
The Bluejays have won their last 18 contests immediately following a loss and have not dropped consecutive matches since opening the season 0-2 to begin the 2019 campaign with back-to-back losses to No. 2 Nebraska and No. 20 Baylor in Lincoln, Neb.
Creighton has also won its last 11 matches after a five-set loss, a streak that dates back to early in the 2016 campaign.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 27-5 last season, won a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title, won its eight BIG EAST Tournament in the past nine seasons, and played in its 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Tournament MVP. She was joined on the All-BIG EAST squad by Kiana Schmitt, Kendra Wait and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ava Martin.
CU posted three top-25 victories in the season, topping No. 25 USC (Sept. 2), No. 16 Marquette (Oct. 14) and No. 14 Marquette (Nov. 26).
A Head Start
Creighton got a leg up on the competition thanks to having 10 extra practices in May and a trip to Italy and Slovenia from May 31 - June 11th.
Every member of the current team except Emma Ziegler was on the trip, which also included four matches.
Hello World!
Two Bluejay freshmen (Jaya Johnson and Destiny Ndam-Simpson) could make their Creighton debuts this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts.
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
2021 Norah Sis• 3 11 4 28 .250 0 1 5 4
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2021 Kendra Wait• 3 5 0 9 .556 32 0 7 2
2019 Ellie Bichelmeyer% 2 3 3 10 .000 0 0 1 2
2022 Ava Martin 1 3 0 4 .750 0 0 0 1
2023 Ellie Bichelmeyer• 3 3 2 17 .059 0 0 1 2
2023 Ava TeStrake 2 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 0 0
2020 Ellie Bolton 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 12 0
2020 Katie Maser 1 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2019 Kiana Schmitt 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Abbey Milner 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2021 Emma Ziegler# 1 0 0 0 --- 2 0 0 0
2022 Sky McCune• 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 5 0
2022 Ann Marie Remmes 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 1
2023 Emma Ziegler 2 0 0 0 --- 0 0 1 0
2023 Sydney Breissinger 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 7 0
2023 Audrey Clark 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2023 Morgan Colangelo 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
#Ziegler's stats from debut at Denver
%Bichelmeyer's stats from debut at Rice
Don't I Know You?
There's more familiarity than you might think between Creighton and its opponents this week.
Ball State setter Lindsey Green was a high school classmate of Creighton freshman Sydney Breissinger at Ursuline Academy in Ohio.
Reese Booth, the daughter of Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, has committed to play volleyball at Northern Iowa starting next fall. Reese Booth currently plays for two-time state runner-up Elkhorn North High School.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 18th in the AVCA preseason poll. It's the ninth time in the past 11 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 last 15 seasons, 275-of-375 teams (73.3 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and since 2008 340-of-375 teams (90.7 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but No. 12 UCLA, No. 17 Illinois and No. 22 Utah reached the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 12th 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 27-5 21st
2023 18th TBD TBD
Top 25 History
Creighton is 174-41 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 19-23 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-1 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 38 of Creighton's 70 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 263-32 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 94 home matches over unranked teams and all but 11 of its last 123 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last nine seasons (2015-23). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
Creighton is 24-84 all-time against ranked teams and 13 of those top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (8) or Kentucky (5).
The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 19-23)
Home: 8-9 Away: 6-8 Neutral: 5-6
Date Winner Loser CU Score
11/19/12 #11 Minnesota #21 Creighton 1-3
08/30/13 #25 Creighton #13 BYU 3-1
09/14/13 #11 UCLA #24 Creighton 1-3
09/16/13 #7 Hawaii #23 Creighton 2-3
08/30/14 #22 Kansas #23 Creighton 1-3
09/03/16 #23 Kentucky #22 Creighton 0-3
12/02/16 #21 Creighton #4 Kansas 3-2
12/09/16 #21 Creighton #17 Michigan 3-2
12/10/16 #5 Texas #21 Creighton 0-3
08/26/17 #9 Creighton #3 Washington 3-1
09/01/17 #7 Creighton #13 Kentucky 3-0
09/02/17 #18 USC #7 Creighton 0-3
09/08/17 #17 Purdue #9 Creighton 1-3
09/09/17 #9 Creighton #7 Kansas 3-0
09/16/17 #19 Iowa State #8 Creighton 2-3
12/12/17 #12 Michigan St. #15 Creighton 1-3
08/24/18 #13 Creighton #5 Kentucky 3-2
08/25/18 #10 USC #13 Creighton 2-3
09/06/18 #7 Nebraska #14 Creighton 2-3
09/15/18 #8 Illinois #10 Creighton 1-3
09/23/18 #10 Creighton #21 Marquette 3-0
10/26/18 #10 Creighton #18 Marquette 3-1
11/24/18 #9 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-1
12/01/18 #22 Washington #9 Creighton 0-3
08/30/19 #2 Nebraska #18 Creighton 1-3
08/31/19 #20 Baylor #18 Creighton 0-3
09/06/19 #23 Creighton #12 Kentucky 3-1
09/07/19 #23 Creighton #15 USC 3-1
09/14/19 #12 Washington #17 Creighton 1-3
10/12/19 #13 Creighton #10 Marquette 3-2
11/22/19 #12 Creighton #9 Marquette 3-1
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
09/02/22 #17 Creighton #25 USC 3-1
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky #17 Creighton 1-3
09/07/22 #2 Nebraska #17 Creighton 2-3
10/14/22 #21 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-2
11/19/22 #16 Marquette #11 Creighton 0-3
11/26/22 #15 Creighton #14 Marquette 3-2
08/26/23 #18 Creighton #16 Purdue 3-0
109 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked in the most recent AVCA poll for the 109th time in program history. That's 43rd-most of all programs in NCAA history, and close behind Loyola Marymount (114), Santa Clara (113) and Missouri (110) for a spot in the top-40.
All 109 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
The Bluejays are one of 18 schools (along with Baylor, BYU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 32 polls.
Believe The Hype
Creighton's recruiting class of freshmen Sydney Breissinger, Audrey Clark, Jaya Johnson, Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Ava TeStrake was recognized as the nation's No. 22 class by PrepVolleyball.
Ndam-Simpson was listed as the nation's No. 21 recruit, TeStrake was tabbed 37th-best and Breissinger No. 139. Creighton now owns nine players on its 2023 roster who were Top 150 recruits by PrepVolleyball.
Top-100 PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces
(list started in 2004; expanded to 150 in 2021)
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
41 2022 Ava Martin
55 2022 Skylar McCune
21 2023 Destiny Ndam-Simpson
37 2023 Ava TeStrake
139 2023 Sydney Breissinger
* signed with Purdue and later transferred to Creighton
# signed with Cincinnati and later transferred to Creighton
current Bluejays in bold italic
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)
2023 22nd (Breissinger, Clark, Johnson, Ndam-Simpson, TeStrake)
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-18 letterwinners to the court from last season, including five starters.
From last year's team, only Emily Bressman, Bethany Clapp, Keeley Davis, Jazz Schmidt, Megan Skovsende, Allison Whitten and Jaela Zimmerman are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 524.3 of a possible 700% back (74.9 percent).
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 1,384 (86.2%) 221 (13.8%)
Blocks 204 (84.3%) 38 (15.7%)
Matches Started 154 (80.2%) 192 (19.8%)
Kills 1,329 (77.6%) 383 (22.4%)
Points 1648 (76.9%) 494 (23.1%)
Aces 115 (61.2%) 73 (38.8%)
Digs 1142 (57.9%) 830 (42.1%)
A Bunch of Winners
Creighton owned 58 wins during the previous two seasons, fourth-most in the nation in that span and trailing only Final Four qualifiers Louisville (63), Pitt (61) and Wisconsin (59).
The only teams with 27 or more wins each of the past two campaigns are Creighton, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Texas, UCF, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
No Losers Here
Creighton has been nearly as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
Creighton, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Texas, Towson, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.
If you go back two years more, the nation's only teams to lose six times or less in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons are Creighton, Pittsburgh and Texas.
11 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous 11 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the previous 11 NCAA Tournaments (2012-22). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
A Great Start
Norah Sis entered her junior season with 924 kills in her career. The 924 kills was the second-most ever by a Bluejay in their first two seasons, trailing only Jaali Winters' 994.
Winters ended her career with a school-record 1,843 kills.
Most Kills, After 2 Seasons at Creighton
Kills Yr1 Yr2 Name Year
994 546 448 Jaali Winters 2015 & 2016
924 435 489 Norah Sis 2021 & 2022
769 341 428 Melissa Walsh 1998 & 1999
733 270 463 Alicia Runge 2009 & 2010 (Jr. & Sr.)
696 180 516 Leah Ratzlaff 2002 & 2003
653 267 386 Jessica Houts 2005 & 2006
640 225 415 Amanda Cvejdlik 2005 & 2006
Setting The Table
Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Kendra Wait has started all 68 matches she's played in during her career, with Creighton going 60-9 in those contests.
Last Friday against Loyola (Chicago), Wait became the first Bluejay setter to start three straight season-openers since Megan Bober did so all four years of her career from 2009-12.
Besides Wait and Bober, the only other women to start three or more season-openers at setter have been Korie Lebeda (2005-08), Kailey Reyes (1998-2001) and Melissa Weisensee (1994-97).
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 443-3 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 68-37 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
Creighton has won 18 of its last 25 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019, at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign and at Omaha and UConn in 2022.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 18-5 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton's six victories in five-set matches last season broke the program record of five previously done in 2003, 2011 and 2015. The nine five-set matches in 2022 was also a record.
Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L
1994 0-2 5-20
1995 0-2 11-19
1996 2-6 9-19
1997 3-5 15-13
1998 2-3 7-18
1999 3-3 13-15
2000 3-3 16-12
2001 1-1 14-13
2002 1-3 3-23
2003 5-1 12-18
2004 4-0 18-11
2005 3-1 16-14
2006 4-2 21-10
2007 2-0 21-10
2008 2-3 18-9
2009 1-4 14-17
2010 3-3 21-12
2011 5-2 17-14
2012 4-1 29-4
2013 3-2 23-9
2014 3-2 25-9
2015 5-2 27-9
2016 4-3 29-7
2017 4-1 26-7
2018 3-2 29-5
2019 2-1 25-6
2020 4-2 12-4
2021 1-1 31-4
2022 6-3 27-5
2023 0-1 2-1
Total 83-65 536-337
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, Texas and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 10 conference regular-season titles. All but two of Creighton's nine crowns were outright titles, whereas Texas shared one title and WKU shared five.
Creighton has also won nine conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2022
Regular-Season League Tournament
10 (2 shared) Creighton 9 Creighton
10 (1) Texas 8 Dayton
10 (5) Western Kentucky 8 Western Kentucky
9 Fairfield 7 Fairfield
8 BYU 6 American
8 (1) Colorado State 6 LIU
Bouncing Back
The Creighton staff is quick to credit athletic performance coach Brad Schmidt for helping the team get stronger during the off-season and maintaining that strength during the season.
Need evidence of that? Since Aug. 25, 2018, Creighton is 17-2 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
Friday's contest against Ball State comes on the heels of last Sunday's five-set contest vs. Duke.
BIG EAST Preseason Poll
Creighton Volleyball was picked to finish second in the BIG EAST in a preseason poll of league coaches.
Creighton earned 4-of-11 first place votes and 94 of a possible 100 points. That was just behind of Marquette's 97 points and the other seven votes for first place.
Xavier (78) was picked third, just ahead of St. John's (64) and Connecticut (63). Rounding out the bottom half of the poll were DePaul (59), Villanova (46), Butler (40), Seton Hall (30), Providence (18) and Georgetown (16).
Creighton also had three women among the 12 members on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team in Ava Martin as well as unanimous selections Kendra Wait and Norah Sis. Sis was also tabbed the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year for the second straight fall.
Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of it or better in the preseason poll in 18 of 20 years under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including 10 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 1st - -
2023 2nd ??? ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 11th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 92-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (83-3 in the regular-season, 9-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 76-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 68-1 league mark and a 8-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Kiana Schmitt is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (with 28 straight wins), and 105-22 in sets.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. In both 2021 and 2022, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the tournament title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Aug. 29, 2023
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (10) 154 14 256 66
Marquette (9) 137 28 240 74
Xavier 97 69 154 140
Butler 91 77 161 137
Villanova (1) 83 85 156 136
St. John's (1) 81 87 176 138
Seton Hall (1) 72 95 143 155
DePaul 46 122 110 174
Georgetown 35 125 89 186
Connecticut# 27 17 46 34
Providence* 26 126 95 170
*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 367-11 (.971) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 310-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 234-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 120-1 all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 95.0 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Conversely, the Jays are 17-204 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-105 (.125) under Booth. Those 17 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
10/07/22 at UConn 25-15, 25-12, 15-13 Booth
10/14/22 #16 Marquette 25-19, 25-16, 15-8 Booth
A Dozen, Cousin
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 12 NCAA Tournaments. That's more than any other coach in Creighton history.
Name Sport NCAA's @CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth Volleyball 12
Bob Warming Men's Soccer 11
Greg McDermott Men's Basketball 8
Dana Altman Men's Basketball 7
Brent Vigness Softball 7
Elmar Bolowich Men's Soccer 6
Jim Flanery Women's Basketball 6
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 374-35 (.914) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 69-150 (.315) under Booth when it drops the first set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 136-5 in its last 141 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, on Sept. 3, 2022 to No. 16 Kentucky and on Dec. 2, 2022 to Auburn.
Creighton has gone 106-5 in its last 111 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 12-16 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 147-3 in its last 150 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team has at least 11 matches (Loyola Chicago, Purdue, Ball State, LSU, UNI, Nebraska, Iowa State, High Point, Minnesota and Marquette 2x) scheduled against teams that made the 2022 NCAA Tournament. So far, they're 2-0 against that group.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 96-105 since.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
2022 5-4
2023 2-0 so far
TOTAL 99-140
TOTAL Under Booth 96-105
9 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Regular-season champions from 2014-22, Creighton is the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win nine straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win nine or more straight league titles, surpassing the five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96).
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 443 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 8/30/23)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 643*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 528*#
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 443*
Jim Flanery, Women's Basketball 401*
Ed Hubbs, Men's & Women's Tennis 347
Dana Altman, Men's Basketball 327
*still active coaching at Creighton
#currently just the women's tennis coach
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 9-12 against ranked non-conference foes over the last seven seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year Non-Con W-L vs. Ranked Non-Con Final W-L
2003 3-8 0-0 12-18
2004 8-2 0-1 18-11
2005 6-5 0-3 16-14
2006 8-3 0-1 21-10
2007 6-5 0-3 21-10
2008 3-5 0-3 18-9
2009 3-8 0-3 14-17
2010 5-5 0-1 21-12
2011 5-7 0-1 17-14
2012 9-2 0-1 29-4
2013 9-3 1-2 23-9
2014 7-6 0-5 25-9
2015 6-7 1-4 27-9
2016 6-6 0-4 29-7
2017 7-4 3-3 26-7
2018 8-4 1-3 29-5
2019 7-3 2-3 25-6
2020 3-2 0-0 12-4
2021 12-1 1-1 31-4
2022 8-3 1-2 27-5
2023 2-1 1-0 2-1 so far
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 171 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 28 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Marquette (5), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 18-1 - 18-1
Connecticut 2-1 1-0 3-1
DePaul 20-0 1-0 21-0
Georgetown 18-0 - 18-0
Marquette 16-4 6-1 22-5
Providence 15-0 - 15-0
Seton Hall 15-3 2-0 17-3
St. John's 16-2 0-1 16-3
Villanova 15-3 3-0 18-3
Xavier 19-0 4-0 23-0
Total 154-14 17-2 171-16
President Elect Booth
Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is the current President-Elect of the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Booth began her service on January 1, 2023 then will become AVCA President in 2024. She is part of the 17-member AVCA Board of Directors, which includes elected representatives, appointed voting members for Diversity Development and Legislation, and non-voting members for Education and Awards.
She will finish out her term as Past President in 2026.
Booth is in her 21st season as the head women's volleyball coach at Creighton.
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/ VolleyballCreighton Volleyball vs Nebraska Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Nebraska Volleyball vs Creighton Postgame Press Conference Spring Match
Saturday, April 18
Creighton Volleyball Media Availability - 4/15/26
Wednesday, April 15
Creighton vs. Kentucky Volleyball Press Conference - 12/13/25
Sunday, December 14
