Friday, September 29
Omaha, Neb.
6 PM
Creighton University
vs
St. John's
Photo by: Curtiss Shore
#16 Volleyball Returns Home to Host St. John's & Seton Hall
9/26/2023 9:29:00 AM | Volleyball
Creighton looks to start a new win streak
Match #14: St. John's at #16 Creighton • D.J. Sokol Arena • Friday, Sept. 29 • 6 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SJU NOTES (PDF) |
Match #15: Seton Hall at #16 Creighton • D.J. Sokol Arena • Sunday, Oct. 1 • 1 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) |
Next Up
No. 16 Creighton (10-3, 1-1 BIG EAST) returns to D.J. Sokol Arena for the first time in four weekends as it hosts a pair of league rivals.
On Friday at 6 p.m., CU welcomes St. John's (10-4, 2-0 BIG EAST prior to Wednesday's match vs. Seton Hall). Creighton's Norah Sis will be recognized prior to the contest, as she achieved her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 2nd vs. LSU.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., CU hosts Seton Hall (8-5, 2-0 BIG EAST prior to Wednesday's match at St. John's).
Broadcast Information
Friday's match will be broadcast on FloSports, which requires a subscription. Noah Sullinger and Megan Epperson will be on the call. The exact link can be found on the Creighton Volleyball schedule page at GoCreighton.com. Friday's's match will also be aired on the radio on 1290 AM (KOIL), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1290.
Sunday's contest will be televised by Nebraska Public Media, with Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp on the call. It will also be streamed for free at http://nebraskapublicmedia.org.
Sunday's match will also be aired on the radio on 1180 the Zone (KZOT), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1180, with Jon Schriner and Shannon Smolinski on the call.
Live Stats Information
Both matches will have live stats available. Links will be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page
Scouting #16 Creighton
Winners of the last nine BIG EAST regular-season titles, Creighton returns four All-BIG EAST selections from a year ago. The Bluejays are off to a 10-3 start, which includes victories away from home over No. 16 Purdue, No. 9 Minnesota and Iowa State.
Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ava Martin (4.16 kps.) leads the BIG EAST in total kills and has been one of the league's most consistent players. Unlike last year, Martin is playing all six rotations to help replace 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year and two-time All-American Norah Sis (4.13 kps., 3.35 dps.), who has missed CU's last seven matches due to injury.
Also back are senior MB Kiana Schmitt (2.64 kps., .339%, 0.94 bps.) and junior S Kendra Wait (10.10 aps., 3.62 dps., 1.14 kps., 0.82 bps., .358%).
Senior Ellie Bolton (4.30 dps.) has starred in her return to the libero role to anchor the Bluejay defense while also serving up at least one ace in each of CU's last 12 contests.
Creighton averages 14.20 kills, 17.18 digs, 2.01 blocks and 1.12 aces per set while hitting .238 as a team.
Scouting St. John's
St. John's entered Wednesday's home match vs. Seton Hall with a 10-4 record this season after sweeping home matches over UConn and Providence to open BIG EAST play last week.
Erin Jones (3.68 kps.) and Giorgia Walther (3.25 kps.) give the Red Storm offense some serious firepower for setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk (9.92 aps., 0.40 saps.) to choose from.
Rashanny Solano Smith (3.55 dps.) leads the team in digs and Ludovica Zola (0.75 bps.) paces the squad in blocks.
As a team, SJU averages 12.51 kills, 1.70 aces, 12.28 digs and 1.69 blocks per set on .221 hitting.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall entered Wednesday's road test at St. John's with an 8-5 record and are perfect in BIG EAST action after sweeping Providence and UConn last week.
Madeline Matheny (3.26 kps.) leads a Pirates offense that features 10 different women with 10 or more kills this fall.
Madison Klungel (5.95 aps.) and Taylor Jakubowski (4.69 aps.) share setting duties, and Asli Subasili (1.15 bps.) leads the team in blocks.
As a team, Seton Hall averages 13.11 kills, 15.71 digs, 2.33 blocks and 1.40 aces per set on .197 hitting.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 451-187 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. St. John's
Creighton leads the all-time series with St. John's by a 16-3 margin, including an 8-1 mark in Omaha.
After losing the first meeting, Creighton won 13 straight contests vs. St. John's until that streak was snapped in the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament semifinals in Milwaukee. Creighton has swept the past three meetings against the Red Storm at all sites, and won 14 consecutive sets over SJU in Omaha.
Of note, Creighton swept the Johnnies at Carnesecca Arena in 2017 in a match interrupted by a third-set fire alarm.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 16-3 vs. St. John's and coach Joanne Persico.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Creighton is 17-3 all-time against Seton Hall, and 8-1 in Omaha. The Bluejays have won 16 straight meetings in the series, including 14 consecutive sweeps. In two meetings last year, Creighton trailed for all of one point (2-1 in the first set of the second meeting).
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 17-3 against Seton Hall and 2-0 against Shannon Thompson.
With A Friday Win...
With a win on Friday against St. John's, Creighton would...
- Improve to 11-3 this season.
- Improve to 17-3 all-time against St. John's.
- Win its ninth straight match in Omaha against St. John's.
- Win its 27th straight match at home against a BIG EAST team.
- Improve to 93-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams since joining the league in 2013.
- Improve to 19-2 in conference home openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including 13 straight victories.
- Avoid having a losing record in BIG EAST play at any point for the first time since opening 0-1 in its first season in the league (2013).
- Improve to 21-0 in its last 21 matches following a loss.
- Avoid consecutive conference losses for the first time since 2011.
- Improve to 14-0 in its last 14 matches after a five-set loss.
- Improve to 20-2 in its last 22 matches after a five-set contest.
- Improve to 167-33 all-time in 200 matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Sokol Will See 200
Friday's contest against St. John's will mark Creighton's 200th inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
The Bluejays are 166-33 to date in the facility, which opened in 2009.
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 20 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.
By comparison, every other team in the BIG EAST has had a multi-match losing streak this season alone.
And if that's not enough, EVERY SINGLE OTHER TEAM in the country (all 343 of them) has had a multi-match losing streak since Creighton's last skid.
Creighton has not lost back-to-back matches against conference teams since a three-match losing streak in November of 2011.
Creighton has also won its last 13 matches after a five-set loss, a streak that dates back to early in the 2016 campaign.
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 26 straight wins), and 105-22 in sets.
Back At Last
Creighton returns home after playing its previous seven matches away from home.
In the past 10 seasons, its just the second time that CU has played seven straight matches away from home, with the other time coming in 2021.
We Ball vs. The Hall
Creighton owns 16 straight victories vs. Seton Hall, tied for its sixth-longest win streak ever against any team.
Less than a week ago CU's record streak of 23 straight wins over Xavier was snapped.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
23 Xavier 2013-22
21 DePaul 2013-Present
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
19 Butler 2013-Present
18 Georgetown 2013-Present
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
16 Seton Hall 2014-Present
Hall Mark
Creighton has swept Seton Hall each of the last 14 meetings, and won each of the last 44 sets.
The 44 straight set victories over the Pirates is the longest in program history over one opponent.
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
44 Seton Hall 2015-Present
26 Providence 2017-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
Chasing 3,000
Junior setter Kendra Wait owns 2,990 career assists and will look to become the fifth player in Bluejay history to reach 3,000 in her career if she can dish 10 or more helpers this weekend.
Wait has played in 79 career matches to date and is on pace to be the third-fastest Bluejay player to that milestone. She owns 17 or more assists in every match she's played in at CU.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 3,000 Assists (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 65 08/28/07 at Iowa State
Kailey Reyes 72 11/17/00 at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee 88 09/05/97 vs. UTSA
Megan Bober 90 11/04/11 Wichita State
Straight Sets
Creighton is 7-0 this season when winning the second set.
St. John's is 6-0 this year when winning the second set and 9-0 when winning the third set.
Seton Hall is 8-0 when winning the first set and 0-5 when losing the first set.
Jak Of All Trades
Seton Hall setter Taylor Jakubowski is the younger sister of former Creighton women's soccer standout Taryn Jakubowski.
Putting The 0 In October And November
Creighton will start October on Sunday with a match against Seton Hall. The Bluejays went a perfect 8-0 last October and have won 13 October matches in a row since an Oct. 16, 2021 loss at Connecticut.
Creighton has been unbeaten in the month of October in four of the previous six seasons, and is 65-5 in the 10th month of the year since Oct. 1, 2016.
Creighton's been awfully good in the month of November too. Since the start of 2014, CU is 53-4 in the 11th month of the year since the start of Nov.1, 2014.
Creighton has won 37 straight October home matches (since 10/15/11) and 27 consecutive home matches in November (since 11/23/14).
The BIG EAST Beasts
The latest unofficial RPI has the BIG EAST as the nation's sixth-best conference, trailing only the Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.
One At A Time
Though preseason favorite Marquette looms next weekend, Creighton hasn't been caught looking ahead in past seasons.
The Bluejays have swept their opponent before facing Marquette each of the last seven times, a streak that dates to the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament (held in April of 2021).
Creighton also owns 18 straight 3-0 wins against BIG EAST teams in the match before facing Marquette, a stretch that began in October of 2015.
What's Your Twenty?
Sophomore Ava Martin has had 20 or more kills in four different matches this season, something only five other sophomores in program history have ever done.
Martin's five career efforts of 20 or more kills is already tied for eighth-most in program history.
Martin has been at her best this season in her final match of a weekend. She's capped the first five weekends of the season with 20 kills vs. Duke, 22 vs. Northern Iowa, 17 vs. Iowa State, 22 at Minnesota and 21 at Xavier.
Matches With 20+ Kills, Season
20+K Name Year
11 Leah Ratzlaff, So. 2003
9 Leah Ratzlaff, Jr. 2004
9 Jaali Winters, Fr. 2015
9 Norah Sis, So. 2022
8 Melissa Walsh, Jr. 2000
7 Melissa Walsh, So. 1999
7 Leah Ratzlaff, Sr. 2005
6 Kelly Goc, Jr. 2006
6 Jaali Winters, So. 2016
5 Kelly Goc, Sr. 2007
5 Taryn Kloth, Sr. 2018
4 Melissa Walsh, Fr. 1998
4 Melissa Walsh, Sr. 2001
4 Jessica Houts, So. 2006
4 Norah Sis, Fr. 2021
4 Ava Martin, So. 2023
Matches With 20+ Kills, Career
20+K Name Years
27 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
23 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
18 Jaali Winters 2015-18
14 Norah Sis 2021-Present
13 Kelly Goc 2004-07
10 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
7 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
5 Jessica Houts 2005-09
5 Leah McNary 2011-14
5 Ava Martin 2022-Present
This Is 20/20
Junior Kendra Wait has become the first player in Creighton history with three different matches in the same month with at least 20 assists and 20 digs.
Her seven such matches in her career are tied for the most in CU history with Melissa Weisensee and Kailey Reyes.
Most 20 Assist, 20 Dig Matches in a Season
4 Melissa Weisensee 1997
4 Kailey Reyes 2000
3 Kailey Reyes 1999
3 Kendra Wait 2022
3 Kendra Wait 2023
Most 20 Assist, 20 Dig Matches in a Career
7 Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
7 Kailey Reyes 1998-01
7 Kendra Wait 2021-Pres.
2 Brittany Coleman 2003-05
2 Michelle Sicner 2011-14
1 Korie Lebeda 2005-08
1 Lydia Dimke 2016-17
20 Assists, 20 Digs In A Match
A D Name Opp. Date
47 22 Melissa Weisensee Bradley (4s) 9/9/94
51 21 Melissa Weisensee at Wichita State (5s) 9/14/96
53 24 Melissa Weisensee at Indiana State (5s) 10/18/96
40 23 Melissa Weisensee at Drake (5s) 9/13/97
46 38 Melissa Weisensee Evansville (4s) 10/10/97
46 21 Melissa Weisensee Missouri State (4s) 10/31/97
65 22 Melissa Weisensee at Evansville (5s) 11/8/97
55 28 Kailey Reyes Evansville (5s) 9/11/99
65 24 Kailey Reyes Illinois State (4s) 9/24/99
40 21 Kailey Reyes Missouri State (4s) 11/6/99
49 28 Kailey Reyes at Illinois State (4s) 10/13/00
44 23 Kailey Reyes Bradley (4s) 10/28/00
64 23 Kailey Reyes at Evansville (5s) 11/4/00
45 20 Kailey Reyes vs. Evansville (4g) 11/24/00
54 22 Brittany Coleman at Illinois State (4s) 10/18/03
62 21 Brittany Coleman at So. Illinois (4s) 10/29/04
71 20 Korie Lebeda at Evansville (5s) 11/18/06
27 20 Michelle Sicner Illinois State (4s) 9/30/11
44 21 Michelle Sicner Xavier (4s) 11/29/13
41 20 Lydia Dimke vs. Wichita State (5s) 8/27/16
40 21 Kendra Wait at Marquette (4s) 10/29/21
59 36 Kendra Wait vs. Florida State (5s) 9/9/22
56 24 Kendra Wait at Rice (5s) 9/18/22
60 20 Kendra Wait #14 Marquette (5s) 11/26/22
43 22 Kendra Wait Northern Iowa (4s) 9/3/23
42 22 Kendra Wait at #9 Minnesota (5s) 9/16/23
45 26 Kendra Wait at Xavier (5s) 9/23/23
League Opener Histories
Including last Friday's sweep at Butler, Creighton owns a 22-8 record all-time in conference openers, including a 19-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 10-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, and 10 straight wins.
Each of the previous 10 times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 161-11 in regular-season league action in those previous seasons. Creighton also won nine of the last 10 conference tournament titles during those years, going 18-1 in those seasons.
In the 21 seasons that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owns a combined .775 (290-84) winning percentage (entering 2023) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Bluejays have had a losing record on five occasions and owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton enters Friday's match vs. St. John's 24-5 overall and 18-2 under Booth, with 12 straight wins.
In league road openers, Creighton is 21-9 overall and 18-3 under Booth, with 10 straight wins (including 2023).
The last team to win a BIG EAST regular-season or tournament title without winning its regular-season opener in conference play was Cincinnati in the fall of 2008.
Hitting Pretty
Creighton hit .442 in its Sept. 15th sweep against High Point, the eighth-best figure in program history, and best mark since hitting .467 vs. Seton Hall in November of 2019.
Best Attack Percentage, Creighton History
.536 vs. Tulsa (41-4-69) (3s) 10-27-95
.495 vs. Liberty (57-8-99) (3s) 9-2-05
.476 at DePaul (46-6-84) (3s) 10-6-17
.471 vs. Providence (36-4-68) (3s) 10-19-14
.467 vs. Seton Hall (48-5-92) (3s) 11-3-19
.4463 vs. Georgetown (62-8-121) (4s) 9-22-17
.4459 vs. Belmont (38-5-74) (3s) 9-8-17
.442 vs. High Point (48-10-86) (3s) 9-15-23
Bolting Down The Defense
After doing it five total times in the first three years of her career, senior Ellie Bolton already owns six matches of 20 or more digs this season.
Only six players in program history have more than 11 career matches with 20+ digs.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
41 Kate Elman 2012-15
32 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-11
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
27 Brittany Witt 2016-19
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
19 Nayka Benitez 2009-10
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
11 Ellie Bolton 2020-Pres.
9 Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Bolton One Of A Kind
Ellie Bolton has been doing damage of late behind the service line and in the back row. Not only has the senior libero had an ace in each of the last 12 matches, but she's also had 10 or more digs in 11 of the last 12 contests as well.
Before it was snapped at Butler last Friday, Bolton had become the first player in CU history to have a streak of 10 matches or more with 10 digs and an ace at the same time.
Consecutive Matches With An Ace
15 Amanda Cvejdlik, Sept. 29-Nov. 18, 2006
12 Madelyn Cole - Oct. 27, 2018-Aug. 30, 2019
12 Madelyn Cole, Sept. 14-Oct. 25, 2019
12 Ellie Bolton, Aug. 26, 2023 - Present
11 Kim Whitman, Sept. 5-Oct. 4, 1998
11 Molly Moran, Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 2000
11 Julianne Mandolfo, Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 2010
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
32 Kate Elman, Aug. 24 - Nov. 30, 2012
30 Kate Elman, Sept. 30, 2013 - Sept. 12, 2014
27 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
23 Julianne Mandolfo, Sept. 9-Nov. 24, 2011
21 Brittany Witt, Nov. 25, 2017 - Oct. 7, 2018
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
18 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Aug. 28, 2010
16 Abby Bottomley, Aug. 27-Oct. 1, 2021
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
15 Nayka Benitez, Nov. 13, 2009-Sept. 10, 2010
15 Allie Oelke, Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2010
14 Mallory Lahm, Oct. 4-Nov. 25, 2005
13 Nayka Benitez, Sept. 12-Oct. 23, 2009
12 Melanie Jereb, Oct. 12-Dec. 5, 2014
12 Kate Elman, Oct. 25-Dec, 11, 2015
12 Brittany Witt, Oct. 5-Nov. 12, 2017
11 Melissa Walsh, Oct. 24, 2000-Aug. 31, 2001
10 Kate Elman, Sept. 20-Oct. 17, 2015
10 Brittany Witt, Oct. 26 - Nov. 24, 2018
10 Ellie Bolton, Aug. 26, Sept. 16, 2023
Booth Earns 450th Win at CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth enters this weekend with a 451-187 record on the Creighton sideline, reaching the 450-win milestone on Sept. 16 with a road win at No. 9 Minnesota. Booth has beaten 97 different schools while at Creighton.
Coaching alongside Booth for each of those wins is assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens, who is also in her 21st season at CU.
Here's a look at Booth's record at the time of some of her milestone victories at Creighton:
W-L Opponent Date 1-1 vs. Auburn (in Ames, Iowa) 08/30/03
50-43 Jacksonville State 09/01/06
100-71 at Drake 10/31/08
150-108 Illinois State 09/30/11
200-123 Xavier 10/18/13
250-144 at Xavier 10/17/15
300-157 Villanova 09/24/17
350-167 Nebraska-Omaha 09/13/19
400-178 Marquette 10/10/21
450-186 at #9 Minnesota 09/16/23
Do You Remember A Better September?
Creighton is 8-2 this month, the 13th straight September with matches it has won seven or more times.
All-time, Creighton owns more wins in the month of September (189) than any other. A distant second is the month of October (160).
With the calendar turning to October on Sunday, it's worth noting that Creighton has won 37 consecutive October home matches.
All They Do Is Win
Creighton has ranked as some of the nation's most successful programs since the start of the 2015 season.
Through matches of Sept. 24th, Creighton ranks sixth nationally with 216 wins and eighth-best with an .814 win percentage.
Most Wins, Since Start of 2015 (through 9/24)
Rk. Wins Team
1. 237 Western Kentucky
2. 231 Nebraska
3. 226 BYU
4. 225 Pittsburgh
5. 219 Texas
6. 216 Creighton
7. 214 Wisconsin
8. 213 Florida
Best Win Pct,. Since Start of 2015 (through 9/24)
Rk. Pct. Team W-L
1. .887 Texas 219-28
2. .883 BYU 226-30
3. .875 Western Kentucky 237-34
4. .852 Nebraska 231-40
5. .836 Pittsburgh 225-44
6. .829 Wisconsin 214-44
7. .826 Florida 213-45
8. .812 Creighton 216-50
9. .804 Stanford 201-49
10. .798 Minnesota 206-52
Poll Votes Creighton 16th
Creighton slipped five spots to 16th in this week's AVCA/TARAFLEX Top 25 poll.
Creighton started the season 18th in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 and has reached as high as 11th (Sept. 18th poll) this fall. It had been the highest ranking in the month of September for the program since it was 10th the final three weeks in September of 2018.
Creighton's best ranking ever is No. 7, done on Aug. 28, 2017. CU was last ranked in the top 10 on Nov. 25, 2019 when it was No. 10.
113 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked in the most recent AVCA poll for the 113th time in program history. That's tied with Santa Clara for 41st-most of all programs in NCAA history, and close behind Loyola Marymount (114).
All 113 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
The Bluejays are one of 17 schools (along with Baylor, BYU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 36 polls.
Handful Named To All-Tournament Team
Creighton had five different student-athletes named to the All-Tournament Team at the Diet Coke Classic, which recognized players who were the best at each position.
Outside hitter Ava Martin was named Tournament MVP and joined on the list by middle blockers Ann Marie Remmes and Kiana Schmitt, libero Ellie Bolton and setter Kendra Wait.
En route to winning four preseason tournaments, Creighton's Ellie Bolton (Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier), Norah Sis (Bluejay Invitational) and Ava Martin (Diet Coke Classic) each picked up Tournament MVP accolades. It would have almost certainly been more, but the MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge did not recognize an All-Tournament Team.
Martin Honored Again
Creighton Volleyball's Ava Martin was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Sept. 18th after earning Tournament MVP honors at the Diet Coke Classic.
Martin helped Creighton to its fourth tournament title of the fall, averaging 4.50 kills, 1.75 digs, 0.25 aces and 0.25 blocks per set on .282 hitting, in wins over High Point and No. 9 Minnesota.
The Overland Park, Kan., native started her week with 14 kills, three digs and a career-high two aces on season-high .542 hitting against defending Big South champion High Point.
On Saturday Martin tied her career high with 22 kills and matched her season-high with 11 digs in a 3-2 victory at No. 9 Minnesota. Four of Martin's kills came in the final set, including three in the first 10 points as the Bluejays surged to a 9-1 lead.
Martin owned three or more kills in all eight sets played that weekend and leads the BIG EAST in total kills.
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 19-2 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
Friday's contest vs. St. John's will mark CU's first match since a five-set contest at Xavier on Sept. 23.
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 tourney title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Sept. 25, 2023
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (10) 155 15 264 68
Marquette (9) 139 28 244 80
Xavier 99 69 160 144
Butler 91 79 164 144
St. John's (1) 83 87 184 141
Villanova (1) 83 87 163 140
Seton Hall (1) 74 95 149 159
DePaul 47 123 118 177
Georgetown 36 126 96 190
Connecticut# 27 19 50 41
Providence* 26 128 101 175
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 172 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 27 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to three league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence) 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 19-1 - 19-1
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 19-1 4-0 23-1
Total 155-15 17-2 172-17
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).
The only other teams nationally with an active streak of more than four straight regular-season league titles are Texas (Big 12) and Kentucky (SEC), both with six.
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
Wait Shows Off Versatility
Kendra Wait was named the BIG EAST's Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after helping Creighton to a pair of wins..
The recognition came one week after Wait earned the league's Defensive Player of the Week accolade, making her the first player since the league began splitting up its Player of the Week awards in 2017 to win Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same or back-to-back weeks. Previously, only Creighton's Jaela Zimmerman (in March of 2021) had won both awards in the same month.
Wait averaged 9.91 assists, 3.18 digs, 1.18 kills and 0.73 blocks per set while hitting .440 in three matches.
The two-time All-BIG EAST selection had 32 assists, eight digs, five kills, one block and one assist in Creighton's 3-1 loss to No. 4 Nebraska. The Bluejays became the first team all season to win a set over the Cornhuskers, as well as the lone team to hit over .100 versus NU.
On Friday Wait notched a double-double with 30 assists, 15 digs, two blocks and two kills on .667 hitting in a 3-0 sweep over Omaha.
She closed the week with 47 assists, 12 digs, six kills and five blocks on .267 hitting as Creighton handed Iowa State its first loss of the fall.
It was the first time in Wait's career that she's been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, though the Gardner, Kan., native is a three-time Defensive Player of the Week honoree (once each in 2021, 2022 and 2023).
Hunting The Top 10
Including its Sept. 16th win at No. 9 Minnesota, Creighton is 9-35 all-time against top-10 teams, including a 9-28 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Eight of the nine victories came away from home, including three sweeps. All four top-five triumphs were also away from home.
The list of top-10 wins is below. Notably, Creighton is also 7-2 in the match after a top-10 victory, falling only after the win at Kansas in 2017 and vs. Kentucky in 2018.
Date Opponent Score
09/05/15 vs. #10 Kentucky (Cedar Falls, Iowa) W 3-0
12/02/16 at #4 Kansas W 3-2
08/26/17 at #3 Washington W 3-1
09/09/17 at #7 Kansas W 3-0
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky (Los Angeles, Calif.) W 3-2
10/12/19 at #10 Marquette W 3-2
11/22/19 #9 Marquette W 3-1
09/04/21 at #3 Kentucky W 3-0
09/16/23 at #9 Minnesota W 3-2
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played in 18 tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won 13 of them.
The only events that CU has not won were the '2020 NCAA Tournament (won by Kentucky) , the 2022 Bluejay Invitational (won by Kentucky), the 2021 NCAA Tournament (won by Wisconsin), the 2022 NCAA Tournament (won by Texas) and the 2022 Rice adidas Invitational (won by Rice). Kentucky, Wisconsin and Texas are the last three NCAA champions.
Let's take a closer look:
Creighton Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-25th)
2021 Mizzou Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluegrass Battle 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic 3-0 (1st)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 1-1 (T-17th)
2022 Rumble in the Rockies 3-0 (1st)
2022 Bluejay Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2022 Omaha Invitational 2-0 (1st)
2022 Rice adidas Invitational 1-1 (2nd)
2022 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2022 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-33rd)
2023 Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier 2-1 (1st)
2023 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2023 MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge 2-0 (1st)
2023 Diet Coke Challenge 2-0 (1st)
Collecting Hardware
Creighton won each of its first four tournaments of a season for the second time (2021, 2023) in the last three seasons after having never done it from 1994-2020.
Keep in mind that when Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired in 2003, Creighton had been 17-33 in 15 regular-season tournaments all-time, with just one tournament title (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic).
Jays Earn Tourney Titles
Creighton has opened the season by winning the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier at Purdue on Aug. 25-27, followed by the Bluejay Invitational on Sept. 1-3, the MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge on Sept. 8-10 and then the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 15-16.
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 29 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 4 Purdue, CU, UNO, MINN
Destined For Greatness?
Destiny Ndam-Simpson led Creighton with 13 kills in her first start on Sept. 6 at No. 4 Nebraska.
It was the most kills by a Bluejay in their first career start since sixth-year senior transfer Jazz Schmidt had 17 vs. Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 28, 2015.
Creighton's last freshman with 13 or more kills in their first career start was the woman that Ndam-Simpson replaced in the starting line-up that day, Norah Sis. Sis had 13 kills vs. Kansas City in her collegiate debut on Aug. 27, 2021.
Ndam-Simpson's 13 kills were the second-most ever against a ranked team by a Bluejay in their first career start, trailing only the 14 by Jess Bird in 2013 against No. 13 BYU.
Most Kills, First Career Start
K Name Opponent Date
17 Jaali Winters vs. Miami (Ohio) 8/28/15
17 Jazz Schmidt at Rice 9/18/22
15 Shannon Scrutton UW-Green Bay 8/31/96
15 Jessica Houts at Colorado 9/9/05
14 Jess Bird vs. #13 BYU 8/30/13
13 JoDe Cieloha vs. Chattanooga 9/2/94
13 Norah Sis vs. UMKC 8/27/21
13 Destiny Ndam-Simpson at #4 Nebraska 9/6/23
11 Megan Ballenger vs. Northern Iowa 9/2/16
11 Taryn Kloth Seton Hall 9/25/15
10 Jaden Custer at Drake 9/29/01
10 Rachelle Von vs. UTSA 9/5/97
Simpson Starts Strong
Destiny Ndam-Simpson had double-figure kills in each of her first four career starts until it was snapped on Sept. 22 at Butler.
She's just the second player in program history with 10 or more kills in each of her first four starts, joining JoDe Cieloha (8 straight in 1994).
Depth And More Depth
Though the season is just five weeks old, head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth hasn't hesitated when it comes to using her full 18-woman roster.
All but one of CU's 18 women have played at least one set, and 15 of those ladies have appeared in seven sets or more. Eleven of the players have started at least one match, a list that doesn't include libero Ellie Bolton.
Shake It Off
While the opening set wasn't anything to write home about, Creighton's offense started to click in the final three sets against Nebraska.
After just four kills in the opener, the Bluejays had 38 kills on .237 hitting in the final three sets, a healthy number considering that the Huskers hadn't surrendered a hitting percentage better than .220 in any of its first 16 sets of the season.
Nebraska entered the day leading the nation by allowing foes to just 8.40 kills per set and .037 hitting percentage.
Creighton finished the evening hitting .109, the first team all season to hit better than .100 for an entire match against the Huskers. Creighton's 15 kills and .355 hitting percentage -- both in the third set -- were also season-highs (at the time) by an NU opponent.
Nationally Elite
The season is just a month old, but Creighton has already soared into the top 10 in two different team categories in the NCAA stat rankings.
The Bluejays are among the nation's best in kills per set (9th) and assists per set (7th).
Category 2022 Rank (Total) 2023 Rank (Total)
Assists Per Set 8th (13.37) 7th (13.14)
Kills Per Set 8th (14.39) 9th (14.20)
Junior Duo Honored
Juniors Norah Sis and Kendra Wait were honored by the BIG EAST Conference on Sept. 4th after helping the Creighton Volleyball team to the Bluejay Invitational title. Sis was named Offensive Player of the Week while Wait brought home Defensive Player of the Week accolades. Both women were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Bluejay Invitational.
Sis is a four-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the week honoree after picking up three such accolades last season. It's the third time in Wait's career that she has been named Defensive Player of the Week, having earned the honor once in 2021, 2022 and now 2023.
Sis earned Bluejay Invitational MVP honors after averaging 4.08 kills, 3.33 digs, 0.58 blocks and 4.54 points per set in victories over Ball State, LSU and Northern Iowa. It was the fourth Tournament MVP recognition of her career, and seventh time she's been named to an All-Tournament Team.
The Papillion, Neb,. product started her week with 19 kills and 16 digs in a 3-2 win vs. defending Mid-American Conference champion Ball State, adding a pair of blocks and a pair of aces. Sis owned five kills and four digs in the fifth set, a 15-11 victory. In CU's 3-0 sweep over LSU, Sis finished with 14 kills, eight digs and three blocks. The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year also surpassed 1,000 career digs in her 70th career match, tying a program record for fewest matches to reach that milestone. She concluded the week with 17 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 win over defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Northern Iowa.
Wait did a little bit of everything, earning All-Tournament Team honors at the Bluejay Invitational for the third straight season after averaging 11.67 assists, 3.50 digs, 1.00 blocks and 1.00 kills per set. It was the eight different time that the Gardner, Kan., native has picked up All-Tournament Team acclaim.
Wait had 56 assists, 13 digs, five blocks and four kills in Friday's 3-2 win over Ball State. On Saturday, Wait contributed 42 assists, seven digs and two blocks while setting the Bluejay offense to .381 hitting. All five of CU's primary attackers hit .350 or better against LSU. She concluded the weekend with 43 assists, 22 digs, seven kills and five blocks on .583 hitting in a 3-1 win over Northern Iowa.
Higher & Higher
Creighton has had no shortage of pressure-packed situations thus far, as 13 of its 50 sets have been decided by exactly two points (going 9-4). That doesn't include four drama-filled fifth sets (going 2-2).
On Sept. 3rd vs. Northern Iowa, Creighton played in a 36-34 set that was its second-highest scoring set in program history. The only one with more points was a 38-36 second set win at Butler on Nov. 12, 2017.
The match vs. Northern Iowa featured 44 ties and 20 lead changes. That was the most ties since there were 46 on Oct. 12, 2019 at Marquette and the most lead changes since there were 23 vs. Butler on Nov. 12, 2017.
Dynamic Duo
In Ava Martin (4.16 kps.) and Norah Sis (4.13 kps.), the Bluejays boast one of the top outside hitting tandems in the nation.
Creighton has never had two players both average more than 3.85 kills per set for an entire season, with the 2018 pairing of All-Americans Taryn Kloth (4.15) and Jaali Winters (3.82) coming closest.
By comparison, Martin was averaging 1.88 kills per set (79 kills in 42 sets) after 13 matches a year ago.
The Gauntlet Continues
Creighton faced another challenging non-conference schedule this fall.
All told, nine of Creighton's 11 non-conference opponents owned 20 or more wins last season, combining to go 240-112 (.682). Just four of the 11 non-conference matches were at home.
All 11 of the foes owned a top-85 RPI, 10 appeared in the postseason and four won a conference title last season. Creighton went 4-0 against league champs and 9-1 against the postseason qualifiers.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 182-43 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 20-24 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, 39 of Creighton's 72 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 270-33 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 97 home matches over unranked teams and all but 12 of its last 131 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 25-85 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 20-24)
Home: 8-9 Away: 7-9 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
09/06/23 #4 Nebraska #16 Creighton 1-3
09/16/23 #14 Creighton #9 Minnesota 3-2
Sis Ties Record At 1,000 Kill Milestone
Norah Sis became the 16th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone when she did it on Sept. 2 vs. LSU.
Sis achieved the milestone in her 70th career match, tying Melissa Walsh for reaching 1,000 kills the fastest in program history.
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. Norah Sis 252 1,019 2021-Pr.
15. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
Jaela Zimmerman 357 1,000 2018-22
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Norah Sis 70 09/02/23 LSU
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
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin started her sophomore season with matches of 14 (Loyola), 15 (Purdue), 20 (Duke), 16 (Ball State), 16 (LSU) and 22 (UNI) kills. 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 first Bluejay ever with four (or more...she ended at six) straight matches of 14 or more kills to start the season.
She's also the first Bluejay with eight straight matches of 14 or more kills in program history.
In those eight matches, Martin averaged 4.21 kills per set while hitting .287. Seven of the eight opponents were in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
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
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.
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 were 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.
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 Sky 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%)
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.
Setting The Table
Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Kendra Wait has started all 79 matches she's played in during her career, with Creighton going 68-11 in those contests.
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 451-3 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 70-38 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 19 of its last 27 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, at Omaha and UConn in 2022 and at No. 9 Minnesota in 2023.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 19-5 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 2-2 10-3
Total 85-66 544-339
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 ??? ???
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
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 451 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 9/27/23)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 643*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 528*#
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 451*
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
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 372-11 (.971) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 313-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 238-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 121-1 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 17-205 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-106 (.124) 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
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 382-36 (.914) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 69-151 (.314) 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 139-5 in its last 144 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 114-6 in its last 120 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 12-17 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 154-4 in its last 158 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 8-1 against that group.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 100-106 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 8-1 so far
TOTAL 105-141
TOTAL Under Booth 102-106
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 10-13 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 9-2 2-1 TBD
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.
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).
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | SJU NOTES (PDF) |
Match #15: Seton Hall at #16 Creighton • D.J. Sokol Arena • Sunday, Oct. 1 • 1 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) |
Next Up
No. 16 Creighton (10-3, 1-1 BIG EAST) returns to D.J. Sokol Arena for the first time in four weekends as it hosts a pair of league rivals.
On Friday at 6 p.m., CU welcomes St. John's (10-4, 2-0 BIG EAST prior to Wednesday's match vs. Seton Hall). Creighton's Norah Sis will be recognized prior to the contest, as she achieved her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 2nd vs. LSU.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., CU hosts Seton Hall (8-5, 2-0 BIG EAST prior to Wednesday's match at St. John's).
Broadcast Information
Friday's match will be broadcast on FloSports, which requires a subscription. Noah Sullinger and Megan Epperson will be on the call. The exact link can be found on the Creighton Volleyball schedule page at GoCreighton.com. Friday's's match will also be aired on the radio on 1290 AM (KOIL), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1290.
Sunday's contest will be televised by Nebraska Public Media, with Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp on the call. It will also be streamed for free at http://nebraskapublicmedia.org.
Sunday's match will also be aired on the radio on 1180 the Zone (KZOT), which can be heard at http://GoCreighton.com/listen1180, with Jon Schriner and Shannon Smolinski on the call.
Live Stats Information
Both matches will have live stats available. Links will be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page
Scouting #16 Creighton
Winners of the last nine BIG EAST regular-season titles, Creighton returns four All-BIG EAST selections from a year ago. The Bluejays are off to a 10-3 start, which includes victories away from home over No. 16 Purdue, No. 9 Minnesota and Iowa State.
Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ava Martin (4.16 kps.) leads the BIG EAST in total kills and has been one of the league's most consistent players. Unlike last year, Martin is playing all six rotations to help replace 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year and two-time All-American Norah Sis (4.13 kps., 3.35 dps.), who has missed CU's last seven matches due to injury.
Also back are senior MB Kiana Schmitt (2.64 kps., .339%, 0.94 bps.) and junior S Kendra Wait (10.10 aps., 3.62 dps., 1.14 kps., 0.82 bps., .358%).
Senior Ellie Bolton (4.30 dps.) has starred in her return to the libero role to anchor the Bluejay defense while also serving up at least one ace in each of CU's last 12 contests.
Creighton averages 14.20 kills, 17.18 digs, 2.01 blocks and 1.12 aces per set while hitting .238 as a team.
Scouting St. John's
St. John's entered Wednesday's home match vs. Seton Hall with a 10-4 record this season after sweeping home matches over UConn and Providence to open BIG EAST play last week.
Erin Jones (3.68 kps.) and Giorgia Walther (3.25 kps.) give the Red Storm offense some serious firepower for setter Wiktoria Kowalczyk (9.92 aps., 0.40 saps.) to choose from.
Rashanny Solano Smith (3.55 dps.) leads the team in digs and Ludovica Zola (0.75 bps.) paces the squad in blocks.
As a team, SJU averages 12.51 kills, 1.70 aces, 12.28 digs and 1.69 blocks per set on .221 hitting.
Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall entered Wednesday's road test at St. John's with an 8-5 record and are perfect in BIG EAST action after sweeping Providence and UConn last week.
Madeline Matheny (3.26 kps.) leads a Pirates offense that features 10 different women with 10 or more kills this fall.
Madison Klungel (5.95 aps.) and Taylor Jakubowski (4.69 aps.) share setting duties, and Asli Subasili (1.15 bps.) leads the team in blocks.
As a team, Seton Hall averages 13.11 kills, 15.71 digs, 2.33 blocks and 1.40 aces per set on .197 hitting.
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 451-187 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. St. John's
Creighton leads the all-time series with St. John's by a 16-3 margin, including an 8-1 mark in Omaha.
After losing the first meeting, Creighton won 13 straight contests vs. St. John's until that streak was snapped in the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament semifinals in Milwaukee. Creighton has swept the past three meetings against the Red Storm at all sites, and won 14 consecutive sets over SJU in Omaha.
Of note, Creighton swept the Johnnies at Carnesecca Arena in 2017 in a match interrupted by a third-set fire alarm.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 16-3 vs. St. John's and coach Joanne Persico.
Series History vs. Seton Hall
Creighton is 17-3 all-time against Seton Hall, and 8-1 in Omaha. The Bluejays have won 16 straight meetings in the series, including 14 consecutive sweeps. In two meetings last year, Creighton trailed for all of one point (2-1 in the first set of the second meeting).
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 17-3 against Seton Hall and 2-0 against Shannon Thompson.
With A Friday Win...
With a win on Friday against St. John's, Creighton would...
- Improve to 11-3 this season.
- Improve to 17-3 all-time against St. John's.
- Win its ninth straight match in Omaha against St. John's.
- Win its 27th straight match at home against a BIG EAST team.
- Improve to 93-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams since joining the league in 2013.
- Improve to 19-2 in conference home openers under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including 13 straight victories.
- Avoid having a losing record in BIG EAST play at any point for the first time since opening 0-1 in its first season in the league (2013).
- Improve to 21-0 in its last 21 matches following a loss.
- Avoid consecutive conference losses for the first time since 2011.
- Improve to 14-0 in its last 14 matches after a five-set loss.
- Improve to 20-2 in its last 22 matches after a five-set contest.
- Improve to 167-33 all-time in 200 matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Sokol Will See 200
Friday's contest against St. John's will mark Creighton's 200th inside D.J. Sokol Arena.
The Bluejays are 166-33 to date in the facility, which opened in 2009.
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 20 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.
By comparison, every other team in the BIG EAST has had a multi-match losing streak this season alone.
And if that's not enough, EVERY SINGLE OTHER TEAM in the country (all 343 of them) has had a multi-match losing streak since Creighton's last skid.
Creighton has not lost back-to-back matches against conference teams since a three-match losing streak in November of 2011.
Creighton has also won its last 13 matches after a five-set loss, a streak that dates back to early in the 2016 campaign.
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 26 straight wins), and 105-22 in sets.
Back At Last
Creighton returns home after playing its previous seven matches away from home.
In the past 10 seasons, its just the second time that CU has played seven straight matches away from home, with the other time coming in 2021.
We Ball vs. The Hall
Creighton owns 16 straight victories vs. Seton Hall, tied for its sixth-longest win streak ever against any team.
Less than a week ago CU's record streak of 23 straight wins over Xavier was snapped.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
23 Xavier 2013-22
21 DePaul 2013-Present
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
19 Butler 2013-Present
18 Georgetown 2013-Present
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
16 Seton Hall 2014-Present
Hall Mark
Creighton has swept Seton Hall each of the last 14 meetings, and won each of the last 44 sets.
The 44 straight set victories over the Pirates is the longest in program history over one opponent.
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
44 Seton Hall 2015-Present
26 Providence 2017-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
Chasing 3,000
Junior setter Kendra Wait owns 2,990 career assists and will look to become the fifth player in Bluejay history to reach 3,000 in her career if she can dish 10 or more helpers this weekend.
Wait has played in 79 career matches to date and is on pace to be the third-fastest Bluejay player to that milestone. She owns 17 or more assists in every match she's played in at CU.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 3,000 Assists (Career)
Name MP Date Opponent
Korie Lebeda 65 08/28/07 at Iowa State
Kailey Reyes 72 11/17/00 at Wichita State
Melissa Weisensee 88 09/05/97 vs. UTSA
Megan Bober 90 11/04/11 Wichita State
Straight Sets
Creighton is 7-0 this season when winning the second set.
St. John's is 6-0 this year when winning the second set and 9-0 when winning the third set.
Seton Hall is 8-0 when winning the first set and 0-5 when losing the first set.
Jak Of All Trades
Seton Hall setter Taylor Jakubowski is the younger sister of former Creighton women's soccer standout Taryn Jakubowski.
Putting The 0 In October And November
Creighton will start October on Sunday with a match against Seton Hall. The Bluejays went a perfect 8-0 last October and have won 13 October matches in a row since an Oct. 16, 2021 loss at Connecticut.
Creighton has been unbeaten in the month of October in four of the previous six seasons, and is 65-5 in the 10th month of the year since Oct. 1, 2016.
Creighton's been awfully good in the month of November too. Since the start of 2014, CU is 53-4 in the 11th month of the year since the start of Nov.1, 2014.
Creighton has won 37 straight October home matches (since 10/15/11) and 27 consecutive home matches in November (since 11/23/14).
The BIG EAST Beasts
The latest unofficial RPI has the BIG EAST as the nation's sixth-best conference, trailing only the Pac-12, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.
One At A Time
Though preseason favorite Marquette looms next weekend, Creighton hasn't been caught looking ahead in past seasons.
The Bluejays have swept their opponent before facing Marquette each of the last seven times, a streak that dates to the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament (held in April of 2021).
Creighton also owns 18 straight 3-0 wins against BIG EAST teams in the match before facing Marquette, a stretch that began in October of 2015.
What's Your Twenty?
Sophomore Ava Martin has had 20 or more kills in four different matches this season, something only five other sophomores in program history have ever done.
Martin's five career efforts of 20 or more kills is already tied for eighth-most in program history.
Martin has been at her best this season in her final match of a weekend. She's capped the first five weekends of the season with 20 kills vs. Duke, 22 vs. Northern Iowa, 17 vs. Iowa State, 22 at Minnesota and 21 at Xavier.
Matches With 20+ Kills, Season
20+K Name Year
11 Leah Ratzlaff, So. 2003
9 Leah Ratzlaff, Jr. 2004
9 Jaali Winters, Fr. 2015
9 Norah Sis, So. 2022
8 Melissa Walsh, Jr. 2000
7 Melissa Walsh, So. 1999
7 Leah Ratzlaff, Sr. 2005
6 Kelly Goc, Jr. 2006
6 Jaali Winters, So. 2016
5 Kelly Goc, Sr. 2007
5 Taryn Kloth, Sr. 2018
4 Melissa Walsh, Fr. 1998
4 Melissa Walsh, Sr. 2001
4 Jessica Houts, So. 2006
4 Norah Sis, Fr. 2021
4 Ava Martin, So. 2023
Matches With 20+ Kills, Career
20+K Name Years
27 Leah Ratzlaff 2002-05
23 Melissa Walsh 1998-01
18 Jaali Winters 2015-18
14 Norah Sis 2021-Present
13 Kelly Goc 2004-07
10 JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
7 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
5 Jessica Houts 2005-09
5 Leah McNary 2011-14
5 Ava Martin 2022-Present
This Is 20/20
Junior Kendra Wait has become the first player in Creighton history with three different matches in the same month with at least 20 assists and 20 digs.
Her seven such matches in her career are tied for the most in CU history with Melissa Weisensee and Kailey Reyes.
Most 20 Assist, 20 Dig Matches in a Season
4 Melissa Weisensee 1997
4 Kailey Reyes 2000
3 Kailey Reyes 1999
3 Kendra Wait 2022
3 Kendra Wait 2023
Most 20 Assist, 20 Dig Matches in a Career
7 Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
7 Kailey Reyes 1998-01
7 Kendra Wait 2021-Pres.
2 Brittany Coleman 2003-05
2 Michelle Sicner 2011-14
1 Korie Lebeda 2005-08
1 Lydia Dimke 2016-17
20 Assists, 20 Digs In A Match
A D Name Opp. Date
47 22 Melissa Weisensee Bradley (4s) 9/9/94
51 21 Melissa Weisensee at Wichita State (5s) 9/14/96
53 24 Melissa Weisensee at Indiana State (5s) 10/18/96
40 23 Melissa Weisensee at Drake (5s) 9/13/97
46 38 Melissa Weisensee Evansville (4s) 10/10/97
46 21 Melissa Weisensee Missouri State (4s) 10/31/97
65 22 Melissa Weisensee at Evansville (5s) 11/8/97
55 28 Kailey Reyes Evansville (5s) 9/11/99
65 24 Kailey Reyes Illinois State (4s) 9/24/99
40 21 Kailey Reyes Missouri State (4s) 11/6/99
49 28 Kailey Reyes at Illinois State (4s) 10/13/00
44 23 Kailey Reyes Bradley (4s) 10/28/00
64 23 Kailey Reyes at Evansville (5s) 11/4/00
45 20 Kailey Reyes vs. Evansville (4g) 11/24/00
54 22 Brittany Coleman at Illinois State (4s) 10/18/03
62 21 Brittany Coleman at So. Illinois (4s) 10/29/04
71 20 Korie Lebeda at Evansville (5s) 11/18/06
27 20 Michelle Sicner Illinois State (4s) 9/30/11
44 21 Michelle Sicner Xavier (4s) 11/29/13
41 20 Lydia Dimke vs. Wichita State (5s) 8/27/16
40 21 Kendra Wait at Marquette (4s) 10/29/21
59 36 Kendra Wait vs. Florida State (5s) 9/9/22
56 24 Kendra Wait at Rice (5s) 9/18/22
60 20 Kendra Wait #14 Marquette (5s) 11/26/22
43 22 Kendra Wait Northern Iowa (4s) 9/3/23
42 22 Kendra Wait at #9 Minnesota (5s) 9/16/23
45 26 Kendra Wait at Xavier (5s) 9/23/23
League Opener Histories
Including last Friday's sweep at Butler, Creighton owns a 22-8 record all-time in conference openers, including a 19-2 record under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That includes a 10-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, and 10 straight wins.
Each of the previous 10 times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 161-11 in regular-season league action in those previous seasons. Creighton also won nine of the last 10 conference tournament titles during those years, going 18-1 in those seasons.
In the 21 seasons that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owns a combined .775 (290-84) winning percentage (entering 2023) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Bluejays have had a losing record on five occasions and owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton enters Friday's match vs. St. John's 24-5 overall and 18-2 under Booth, with 12 straight wins.
In league road openers, Creighton is 21-9 overall and 18-3 under Booth, with 10 straight wins (including 2023).
The last team to win a BIG EAST regular-season or tournament title without winning its regular-season opener in conference play was Cincinnati in the fall of 2008.
Hitting Pretty
Creighton hit .442 in its Sept. 15th sweep against High Point, the eighth-best figure in program history, and best mark since hitting .467 vs. Seton Hall in November of 2019.
Best Attack Percentage, Creighton History
.536 vs. Tulsa (41-4-69) (3s) 10-27-95
.495 vs. Liberty (57-8-99) (3s) 9-2-05
.476 at DePaul (46-6-84) (3s) 10-6-17
.471 vs. Providence (36-4-68) (3s) 10-19-14
.467 vs. Seton Hall (48-5-92) (3s) 11-3-19
.4463 vs. Georgetown (62-8-121) (4s) 9-22-17
.4459 vs. Belmont (38-5-74) (3s) 9-8-17
.442 vs. High Point (48-10-86) (3s) 9-15-23
Bolting Down The Defense
After doing it five total times in the first three years of her career, senior Ellie Bolton already owns six matches of 20 or more digs this season.
Only six players in program history have more than 11 career matches with 20+ digs.
Matches With 20+ Digs, Career
20+D Name Years
41 Kate Elman 2012-15
32 Julianne Mandolfo 2010-11
27 Bianca Rivera 2007-08
27 Brittany Witt 2016-19
20 Janeen Piller 2001-04
19 Nayka Benitez 2009-10
11 Katie Mehal 2004-07
11 Ellie Bolton 2020-Pres.
9 Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Bolton One Of A Kind
Ellie Bolton has been doing damage of late behind the service line and in the back row. Not only has the senior libero had an ace in each of the last 12 matches, but she's also had 10 or more digs in 11 of the last 12 contests as well.
Before it was snapped at Butler last Friday, Bolton had become the first player in CU history to have a streak of 10 matches or more with 10 digs and an ace at the same time.
Consecutive Matches With An Ace
15 Amanda Cvejdlik, Sept. 29-Nov. 18, 2006
12 Madelyn Cole - Oct. 27, 2018-Aug. 30, 2019
12 Madelyn Cole, Sept. 14-Oct. 25, 2019
12 Ellie Bolton, Aug. 26, 2023 - Present
11 Kim Whitman, Sept. 5-Oct. 4, 1998
11 Molly Moran, Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 2000
11 Julianne Mandolfo, Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 2010
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Digs
43 Janeen Piller, Oct. 10, 2003-Nov. 26, 2004
32 Kate Elman, Aug. 24 - Nov. 30, 2012
30 Kate Elman, Sept. 30, 2013 - Sept. 12, 2014
27 Bianca Rivera, Aug. 24-Nov. 9, 2007
23 Julianne Mandolfo, Sept. 9-Nov. 24, 2011
21 Brittany Witt, Nov. 25, 2017 - Oct. 7, 2018
19 Bianca Rivera, Sept. 20-Nov. 28, 2008
18 Allie Oelke, Oct. 10, 2009-Aug. 28, 2010
16 Abby Bottomley, Aug. 27-Oct. 1, 2021
15 Abby Baumann, Sept. 15-Nov. 3, 2006
15 Katie Mehal, Oct. 6-Nov. 24, 2006
15 Nayka Benitez, Nov. 13, 2009-Sept. 10, 2010
15 Allie Oelke, Sept. 3-Oct. 16, 2010
14 Mallory Lahm, Oct. 4-Nov. 25, 2005
13 Nayka Benitez, Sept. 12-Oct. 23, 2009
12 Melanie Jereb, Oct. 12-Dec. 5, 2014
12 Kate Elman, Oct. 25-Dec, 11, 2015
12 Brittany Witt, Oct. 5-Nov. 12, 2017
11 Melissa Walsh, Oct. 24, 2000-Aug. 31, 2001
10 Kate Elman, Sept. 20-Oct. 17, 2015
10 Brittany Witt, Oct. 26 - Nov. 24, 2018
10 Ellie Bolton, Aug. 26, Sept. 16, 2023
Booth Earns 450th Win at CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth enters this weekend with a 451-187 record on the Creighton sideline, reaching the 450-win milestone on Sept. 16 with a road win at No. 9 Minnesota. Booth has beaten 97 different schools while at Creighton.
Coaching alongside Booth for each of those wins is assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens, who is also in her 21st season at CU.
Here's a look at Booth's record at the time of some of her milestone victories at Creighton:
W-L Opponent Date 1-1 vs. Auburn (in Ames, Iowa) 08/30/03
50-43 Jacksonville State 09/01/06
100-71 at Drake 10/31/08
150-108 Illinois State 09/30/11
200-123 Xavier 10/18/13
250-144 at Xavier 10/17/15
300-157 Villanova 09/24/17
350-167 Nebraska-Omaha 09/13/19
400-178 Marquette 10/10/21
450-186 at #9 Minnesota 09/16/23
Do You Remember A Better September?
Creighton is 8-2 this month, the 13th straight September with matches it has won seven or more times.
All-time, Creighton owns more wins in the month of September (189) than any other. A distant second is the month of October (160).
With the calendar turning to October on Sunday, it's worth noting that Creighton has won 37 consecutive October home matches.
All They Do Is Win
Creighton has ranked as some of the nation's most successful programs since the start of the 2015 season.
Through matches of Sept. 24th, Creighton ranks sixth nationally with 216 wins and eighth-best with an .814 win percentage.
Most Wins, Since Start of 2015 (through 9/24)
Rk. Wins Team
1. 237 Western Kentucky
2. 231 Nebraska
3. 226 BYU
4. 225 Pittsburgh
5. 219 Texas
6. 216 Creighton
7. 214 Wisconsin
8. 213 Florida
Best Win Pct,. Since Start of 2015 (through 9/24)
Rk. Pct. Team W-L
1. .887 Texas 219-28
2. .883 BYU 226-30
3. .875 Western Kentucky 237-34
4. .852 Nebraska 231-40
5. .836 Pittsburgh 225-44
6. .829 Wisconsin 214-44
7. .826 Florida 213-45
8. .812 Creighton 216-50
9. .804 Stanford 201-49
10. .798 Minnesota 206-52
Poll Votes Creighton 16th
Creighton slipped five spots to 16th in this week's AVCA/TARAFLEX Top 25 poll.
Creighton started the season 18th in the AVCA Preseason Top 25 and has reached as high as 11th (Sept. 18th poll) this fall. It had been the highest ranking in the month of September for the program since it was 10th the final three weeks in September of 2018.
Creighton's best ranking ever is No. 7, done on Aug. 28, 2017. CU was last ranked in the top 10 on Nov. 25, 2019 when it was No. 10.
113 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked in the most recent AVCA poll for the 113th time in program history. That's tied with Santa Clara for 41st-most of all programs in NCAA history, and close behind Loyola Marymount (114).
All 113 rankings have occurred since 2012 and under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
The Bluejays are one of 17 schools (along with Baylor, BYU, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 36 polls.
Handful Named To All-Tournament Team
Creighton had five different student-athletes named to the All-Tournament Team at the Diet Coke Classic, which recognized players who were the best at each position.
Outside hitter Ava Martin was named Tournament MVP and joined on the list by middle blockers Ann Marie Remmes and Kiana Schmitt, libero Ellie Bolton and setter Kendra Wait.
En route to winning four preseason tournaments, Creighton's Ellie Bolton (Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier), Norah Sis (Bluejay Invitational) and Ava Martin (Diet Coke Classic) each picked up Tournament MVP accolades. It would have almost certainly been more, but the MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge did not recognize an All-Tournament Team.
Martin Honored Again
Creighton Volleyball's Ava Martin was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Sept. 18th after earning Tournament MVP honors at the Diet Coke Classic.
Martin helped Creighton to its fourth tournament title of the fall, averaging 4.50 kills, 1.75 digs, 0.25 aces and 0.25 blocks per set on .282 hitting, in wins over High Point and No. 9 Minnesota.
The Overland Park, Kan., native started her week with 14 kills, three digs and a career-high two aces on season-high .542 hitting against defending Big South champion High Point.
On Saturday Martin tied her career high with 22 kills and matched her season-high with 11 digs in a 3-2 victory at No. 9 Minnesota. Four of Martin's kills came in the final set, including three in the first 10 points as the Bluejays surged to a 9-1 lead.
Martin owned three or more kills in all eight sets played that weekend and leads the BIG EAST in total kills.
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 19-2 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
Friday's contest vs. St. John's will mark CU's first match since a five-set contest at Xavier on Sept. 23.
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 tourney title.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Sept. 25, 2023
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (10) 155 15 264 68
Marquette (9) 139 28 244 80
Xavier 99 69 160 144
Butler 91 79 164 144
St. John's (1) 83 87 184 141
Villanova (1) 83 87 163 140
Seton Hall (1) 74 95 149 159
DePaul 47 123 118 177
Georgetown 36 126 96 190
Connecticut# 27 19 50 41
Providence* 26 128 101 175
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 172 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 27 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to three league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence) 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 19-1 - 19-1
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 19-1 4-0 23-1
Total 155-15 17-2 172-17
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).
The only other teams nationally with an active streak of more than four straight regular-season league titles are Texas (Big 12) and Kentucky (SEC), both with six.
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
Wait Shows Off Versatility
Kendra Wait was named the BIG EAST's Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after helping Creighton to a pair of wins..
The recognition came one week after Wait earned the league's Defensive Player of the Week accolade, making her the first player since the league began splitting up its Player of the Week awards in 2017 to win Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same or back-to-back weeks. Previously, only Creighton's Jaela Zimmerman (in March of 2021) had won both awards in the same month.
Wait averaged 9.91 assists, 3.18 digs, 1.18 kills and 0.73 blocks per set while hitting .440 in three matches.
The two-time All-BIG EAST selection had 32 assists, eight digs, five kills, one block and one assist in Creighton's 3-1 loss to No. 4 Nebraska. The Bluejays became the first team all season to win a set over the Cornhuskers, as well as the lone team to hit over .100 versus NU.
On Friday Wait notched a double-double with 30 assists, 15 digs, two blocks and two kills on .667 hitting in a 3-0 sweep over Omaha.
She closed the week with 47 assists, 12 digs, six kills and five blocks on .267 hitting as Creighton handed Iowa State its first loss of the fall.
It was the first time in Wait's career that she's been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, though the Gardner, Kan., native is a three-time Defensive Player of the Week honoree (once each in 2021, 2022 and 2023).
Hunting The Top 10
Including its Sept. 16th win at No. 9 Minnesota, Creighton is 9-35 all-time against top-10 teams, including a 9-28 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Eight of the nine victories came away from home, including three sweeps. All four top-five triumphs were also away from home.
The list of top-10 wins is below. Notably, Creighton is also 7-2 in the match after a top-10 victory, falling only after the win at Kansas in 2017 and vs. Kentucky in 2018.
Date Opponent Score
09/05/15 vs. #10 Kentucky (Cedar Falls, Iowa) W 3-0
12/02/16 at #4 Kansas W 3-2
08/26/17 at #3 Washington W 3-1
09/09/17 at #7 Kansas W 3-0
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky (Los Angeles, Calif.) W 3-2
10/12/19 at #10 Marquette W 3-2
11/22/19 #9 Marquette W 3-1
09/04/21 at #3 Kentucky W 3-0
09/16/23 at #9 Minnesota W 3-2
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played in 18 tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won 13 of them.
The only events that CU has not won were the '2020 NCAA Tournament (won by Kentucky) , the 2022 Bluejay Invitational (won by Kentucky), the 2021 NCAA Tournament (won by Wisconsin), the 2022 NCAA Tournament (won by Texas) and the 2022 Rice adidas Invitational (won by Rice). Kentucky, Wisconsin and Texas are the last three NCAA champions.
Let's take a closer look:
Creighton Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-25th)
2021 Mizzou Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluegrass Battle 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic 3-0 (1st)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 1-1 (T-17th)
2022 Rumble in the Rockies 3-0 (1st)
2022 Bluejay Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2022 Omaha Invitational 2-0 (1st)
2022 Rice adidas Invitational 1-1 (2nd)
2022 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2022 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-33rd)
2023 Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier 2-1 (1st)
2023 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2023 MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge 2-0 (1st)
2023 Diet Coke Challenge 2-0 (1st)
Collecting Hardware
Creighton won each of its first four tournaments of a season for the second time (2021, 2023) in the last three seasons after having never done it from 1994-2020.
Keep in mind that when Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired in 2003, Creighton had been 17-33 in 15 regular-season tournaments all-time, with just one tournament title (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic).
Jays Earn Tourney Titles
Creighton has opened the season by winning the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier at Purdue on Aug. 25-27, followed by the Bluejay Invitational on Sept. 1-3, the MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge on Sept. 8-10 and then the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 15-16.
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 29 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 4 Purdue, CU, UNO, MINN
Destined For Greatness?
Destiny Ndam-Simpson led Creighton with 13 kills in her first start on Sept. 6 at No. 4 Nebraska.
It was the most kills by a Bluejay in their first career start since sixth-year senior transfer Jazz Schmidt had 17 vs. Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 28, 2015.
Creighton's last freshman with 13 or more kills in their first career start was the woman that Ndam-Simpson replaced in the starting line-up that day, Norah Sis. Sis had 13 kills vs. Kansas City in her collegiate debut on Aug. 27, 2021.
Ndam-Simpson's 13 kills were the second-most ever against a ranked team by a Bluejay in their first career start, trailing only the 14 by Jess Bird in 2013 against No. 13 BYU.
Most Kills, First Career Start
K Name Opponent Date
17 Jaali Winters vs. Miami (Ohio) 8/28/15
17 Jazz Schmidt at Rice 9/18/22
15 Shannon Scrutton UW-Green Bay 8/31/96
15 Jessica Houts at Colorado 9/9/05
14 Jess Bird vs. #13 BYU 8/30/13
13 JoDe Cieloha vs. Chattanooga 9/2/94
13 Norah Sis vs. UMKC 8/27/21
13 Destiny Ndam-Simpson at #4 Nebraska 9/6/23
11 Megan Ballenger vs. Northern Iowa 9/2/16
11 Taryn Kloth Seton Hall 9/25/15
10 Jaden Custer at Drake 9/29/01
10 Rachelle Von vs. UTSA 9/5/97
Simpson Starts Strong
Destiny Ndam-Simpson had double-figure kills in each of her first four career starts until it was snapped on Sept. 22 at Butler.
She's just the second player in program history with 10 or more kills in each of her first four starts, joining JoDe Cieloha (8 straight in 1994).
Depth And More Depth
Though the season is just five weeks old, head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth hasn't hesitated when it comes to using her full 18-woman roster.
All but one of CU's 18 women have played at least one set, and 15 of those ladies have appeared in seven sets or more. Eleven of the players have started at least one match, a list that doesn't include libero Ellie Bolton.
Shake It Off
While the opening set wasn't anything to write home about, Creighton's offense started to click in the final three sets against Nebraska.
After just four kills in the opener, the Bluejays had 38 kills on .237 hitting in the final three sets, a healthy number considering that the Huskers hadn't surrendered a hitting percentage better than .220 in any of its first 16 sets of the season.
Nebraska entered the day leading the nation by allowing foes to just 8.40 kills per set and .037 hitting percentage.
Creighton finished the evening hitting .109, the first team all season to hit better than .100 for an entire match against the Huskers. Creighton's 15 kills and .355 hitting percentage -- both in the third set -- were also season-highs (at the time) by an NU opponent.
Nationally Elite
The season is just a month old, but Creighton has already soared into the top 10 in two different team categories in the NCAA stat rankings.
The Bluejays are among the nation's best in kills per set (9th) and assists per set (7th).
Category 2022 Rank (Total) 2023 Rank (Total)
Assists Per Set 8th (13.37) 7th (13.14)
Kills Per Set 8th (14.39) 9th (14.20)
Junior Duo Honored
Juniors Norah Sis and Kendra Wait were honored by the BIG EAST Conference on Sept. 4th after helping the Creighton Volleyball team to the Bluejay Invitational title. Sis was named Offensive Player of the Week while Wait brought home Defensive Player of the Week accolades. Both women were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Bluejay Invitational.
Sis is a four-time BIG EAST Offensive Player of the week honoree after picking up three such accolades last season. It's the third time in Wait's career that she has been named Defensive Player of the Week, having earned the honor once in 2021, 2022 and now 2023.
Sis earned Bluejay Invitational MVP honors after averaging 4.08 kills, 3.33 digs, 0.58 blocks and 4.54 points per set in victories over Ball State, LSU and Northern Iowa. It was the fourth Tournament MVP recognition of her career, and seventh time she's been named to an All-Tournament Team.
The Papillion, Neb,. product started her week with 19 kills and 16 digs in a 3-2 win vs. defending Mid-American Conference champion Ball State, adding a pair of blocks and a pair of aces. Sis owned five kills and four digs in the fifth set, a 15-11 victory. In CU's 3-0 sweep over LSU, Sis finished with 14 kills, eight digs and three blocks. The Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year also surpassed 1,000 career digs in her 70th career match, tying a program record for fewest matches to reach that milestone. She concluded the week with 17 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 win over defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Northern Iowa.
Wait did a little bit of everything, earning All-Tournament Team honors at the Bluejay Invitational for the third straight season after averaging 11.67 assists, 3.50 digs, 1.00 blocks and 1.00 kills per set. It was the eight different time that the Gardner, Kan., native has picked up All-Tournament Team acclaim.
Wait had 56 assists, 13 digs, five blocks and four kills in Friday's 3-2 win over Ball State. On Saturday, Wait contributed 42 assists, seven digs and two blocks while setting the Bluejay offense to .381 hitting. All five of CU's primary attackers hit .350 or better against LSU. She concluded the weekend with 43 assists, 22 digs, seven kills and five blocks on .583 hitting in a 3-1 win over Northern Iowa.
Higher & Higher
Creighton has had no shortage of pressure-packed situations thus far, as 13 of its 50 sets have been decided by exactly two points (going 9-4). That doesn't include four drama-filled fifth sets (going 2-2).
On Sept. 3rd vs. Northern Iowa, Creighton played in a 36-34 set that was its second-highest scoring set in program history. The only one with more points was a 38-36 second set win at Butler on Nov. 12, 2017.
The match vs. Northern Iowa featured 44 ties and 20 lead changes. That was the most ties since there were 46 on Oct. 12, 2019 at Marquette and the most lead changes since there were 23 vs. Butler on Nov. 12, 2017.
Dynamic Duo
In Ava Martin (4.16 kps.) and Norah Sis (4.13 kps.), the Bluejays boast one of the top outside hitting tandems in the nation.
Creighton has never had two players both average more than 3.85 kills per set for an entire season, with the 2018 pairing of All-Americans Taryn Kloth (4.15) and Jaali Winters (3.82) coming closest.
By comparison, Martin was averaging 1.88 kills per set (79 kills in 42 sets) after 13 matches a year ago.
The Gauntlet Continues
Creighton faced another challenging non-conference schedule this fall.
All told, nine of Creighton's 11 non-conference opponents owned 20 or more wins last season, combining to go 240-112 (.682). Just four of the 11 non-conference matches were at home.
All 11 of the foes owned a top-85 RPI, 10 appeared in the postseason and four won a conference title last season. Creighton went 4-0 against league champs and 9-1 against the postseason qualifiers.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 182-43 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 20-24 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, 39 of Creighton's 72 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 270-33 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 97 home matches over unranked teams and all but 12 of its last 131 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 25-85 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 20-24)
Home: 8-9 Away: 7-9 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
09/06/23 #4 Nebraska #16 Creighton 1-3
09/16/23 #14 Creighton #9 Minnesota 3-2
Sis Ties Record At 1,000 Kill Milestone
Norah Sis became the 16th Bluejay ever to reach the 1,000 kill milestone when she did it on Sept. 2 vs. LSU.
Sis achieved the milestone in her 70th career match, tying Melissa Walsh for reaching 1,000 kills the fastest in program history.
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. Norah Sis 252 1,019 2021-Pr.
15. Shelly Kapler 388 1,000 1996-99
Jaela Zimmerman 357 1,000 2018-22
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Career Kills
Name MP Date Opponent
Melissa Walsh 70 10/15/00 Eastern Illinois
Norah Sis 70 09/02/23 LSU
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
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin started her sophomore season with matches of 14 (Loyola), 15 (Purdue), 20 (Duke), 16 (Ball State), 16 (LSU) and 22 (UNI) kills. 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 first Bluejay ever with four (or more...she ended at six) straight matches of 14 or more kills to start the season.
She's also the first Bluejay with eight straight matches of 14 or more kills in program history.
In those eight matches, Martin averaged 4.21 kills per set while hitting .287. Seven of the eight opponents were in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
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
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.
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 were 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.
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 Sky 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%)
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.
Setting The Table
Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Kendra Wait has started all 79 matches she's played in during her career, with Creighton going 68-11 in those contests.
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 451-3 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 70-38 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 19 of its last 27 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, at Omaha and UConn in 2022 and at No. 9 Minnesota in 2023.
It's also worth noting that Creighton is 19-5 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 2-2 10-3
Total 85-66 544-339
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 ??? ???
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
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 451 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport Victories (thru 9/27/23)
Brent Vigness, Softball 819
Ed Servais, Baseball 643*
Mary Higgins, Softball 564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis 528*#
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball 451*
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
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 372-11 (.971) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 313-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 238-3 when up 2-0 dating to September of 2009, and 121-1 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 17-205 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-106 (.124) 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
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 382-36 (.914) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 69-151 (.314) 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 139-5 in its last 144 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 114-6 in its last 120 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 12-17 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 154-4 in its last 158 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 8-1 against that group.
After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 100-106 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 8-1 so far
TOTAL 105-141
TOTAL Under Booth 102-106
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 10-13 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 9-2 2-1 TBD
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.
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).
Players Mentioned
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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
