Wednesday, September 6
Lincoln, Neb.
7 PM
Creighton University
at
Nebraska
#16 Volleyball Visits #4 Nebraska on Wednesday
9/5/2023 3:40:00 PM | Volleyball
Top-20 showdown starts a busy week for the Jays
Match #7: #16 Creighton at #4 Nebraska • Wednesday, Sept. 6 • 7 p.m.
Bob Devaney Sports Center • Lincoln, Neb.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES (PDF) | NU NOTES (PDF) |
Next Up
No. 16 Creighton (5-1) looks for its second top-25 road win in the first two weeks of the season when it visits No. 4 Nebraska (5-0) on Wednesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
   A sellout crowd at Bob Devaney Sports Center is expected, with first serve at 7 p.m. Unlike NU's home contest last Wednesday, the match will be played indoors.
Broadcast Information
Wednesday's contest in Lincoln will be televised nationally on BTN, with Larry Punteney and Emily Ehman on the call.
   Creighton is 1-0 on BTN this year, sweeping then-No. 16 Purdue on Aug. 26 in West Lafayette.
Live Stats Information
Wednesday's contest will have free live stats at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
   A link will also be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page
Scouting #16 Creighton
Creighton returns five starters from last season's 27-5 squad that reached an 11th straight NCAA Tournament and saw the Bluejays win a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title and its eighth BIG EAST Tournament crown in the past nine years. Despite all that success, CU is picked to finish second by league coaches in 2023.
   The Bluejays return four All-BIG EAST selections from a year ago, a group led by 2022 BIG EAST Player of the Year Norah Sis (4.13 kps., 3.35 dps.). Sis was named BIG EAST Tournament MVP in both 2021 and 2022 and Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year in both 2022 and 2023.
   Also back are all-league picks Ava Martin (4.48 kps., .297%), Kiana Schmitt (2.74 kps., .331%, 1.13 bps.) and Kendra Wait (11.09 aps., 3.43 dps., .319%). Senior Ellie Bolton (4.78 dps.) won a tight battle for libero in fall camp and was named MVP of the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier to open the season.
   Creighton picked up transfers Ellie Bichelmeyer (Rice) and Emma Ziegler (Denver) to bolster a top-25 recruiting class led by top-40 recruits Destiny Ndam-Simpson (1.67 kps.) and Ava TeStrake, but it was Sydney Breissinger (3.00 dps.) who has seen the most consistent action thus far.
    CU averages 15.61 kills, 1.30 aces, 18.91 digs and 2.28 blocks per set while hitting .253.
Scouting No. 4 Nebraska
Nebraska is 5-0 on the season, sweeping Utah State, Lipscomb, SMU, Omaha and Kansas State. The Cornhuskers, along with 2-0 Princeton (prior to Tuesday's match vs. Santa Clara) are one of two teams nationally that have not yet lost a set.
   Three newcomers are leading the NU offense, Florida transfer Merritt Beason (2.73 kps.) as well as freshmen Harper Murray (3.20 kps., .306%) and Andi Jackson (2.58 kps., .581%).
   Freshman Bergen Reilly (8.80 aps., 2.93 dps.) quarterbacks the offense while All-American libero Lexi Rodriguez (3.93 dps.) and middle blocker Bekka Allick (1.91 bps.) spearhead one of the nation's top defenses.
   The Cornhuskers average 12.47 kills, 13.87 digs, 3.13 blocks and 1.40 aces per set while hitting .260. NU's defense holds foes to 8.40 kills per set and .037 hitting.  Â
Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 446-185 record in her 21st season with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to nine straight BIG EAST titles (2014-22), and 10 league crowns in the last 11 years. Booth led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's (2015, 2016) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the third time in 2019.
   The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only 12 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 12 seasons (including 2023), another program first.
   Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
   Booth is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Brian Rosen and Adam Kessenich.
Series History vs. Nebraska
Since restarting its volleyball program in 1994, Creighton is 0-19 all-time against Nebraska in the fall. Eleven of those 19 meetings have come in Lincoln.
   Nebraska has been ranked in the top-11 of every meeting, and ranked No. 1 nationally at match time on six occasions.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-15 all-time against the Huskers, and 0-15 against John Cook. Cook is 18-0 against Creighton.
   Creighton has won the first set in meetings in 2006, 2014 and 2016, while in 2018 CU took a 2-0 lead over the Cornhuskers. Last year CU nearly pulled off a reverse sweep, winning sets three and four, only to lose the fifth set in a match that featured 31 ties and 12 lead changes.
   Creighton did defeat Nebraska on April 12, 2013 (25-17, 22-25, 27-25, 20-25, 15-13) in a spring contest that was the final scheduled match at the NU Coliseum. Leah McNary had 15 kills to pace CU, while Katie Neisler had 13 kills in 48 swings to lead CU.
Hunting The Top 10
Creighton is 8-34 all-time against top-10 teams, including an 8-27 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
   Seven of the eight victories came away from home, including three sweeps. All four top-five triumphs were also away from home.
Date   Opponent   Score
09/05/15Â Â Â vs. #10 Kentucky (Cedar Falls, Iowa)Â Â Â 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
08/24/18Â Â Â vs. #5 Kentucky (Los Angeles, Calif.)Â Â Â 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
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
Below is a list of the largest crowds in Creighton Volleyball history. The top six have been set in Omaha, but the next six were all held in Lincoln.
   Creighton had owned two of the top three regular-season volleyball-only crowds in history before Nebraska broke the NCAA record inside Memorial Stadium last week.
Creighton's Largest Crowds (All Sites)
   Att.   Opponent   Date   CU Result   Facility
   15,797   #2 Nebraska   09.07/22   L 2-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   14,022   #6 Nebraska   09/06/18   L 2-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   13,081   #18 Cal Poly   09/02/07   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   12,112   #1 Nebraska   09/24/06   L 1-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   11,279   #3 Nebraska   09/08/21   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   10,131   #4 Nebraska   09/15/15   L 0-3   CHI Health Ctr.
   8,627   at #5 Nebraska   09/29/02   L 0-3   Devaney Ctr.
   8,450   at #2 Nebraska   08/30/19   L 1-3   Devaney Ctr.
   8,277   vs. Montana St.   09/16/16   W 3-0   Devaney Ctr.
   8,249   at #1 Nebraska   09/17/16   L 1-3   Devaney Ctr.
   8,237   vs. #20 Baylor (@NU)   08/31/19   L 0-3   Devaney Ctr.
   8,060   at #9 Nebraska   09/17/14   L 1-3   Devaney Ctr.
Connections To Lincoln/Nebraska
Two members of Creighton's staff have ties to Lincoln or the University of Nebraska.
   Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth went to high school in Lincoln and is a member of the Lincoln East High School Hall of Fame.
   Creighton assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens was a four-year starter for the Huskers from 1997-2000, including Nebraska's unbeaten NCAA champion team in 2000 that was coached by John Cook. Among her teammates was Lindsay (Wischmeier) Peterson, NU's current Director of Operations.
U21 National Team Reunion
Wednesday will be a reunion of sorts for the U.S. Women's Volleyball U21 National Team that won a Gold Medal at the Pan American Cup in the summer of 2022 in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
   Creighton's Norah Sis started every match for that team (which went 5-0) and was joined on the roster by current Cornhuskers Lexi Rodriguez, Bekka Allick and Merritt Beason.
Beating The Unbeatable
For the second straight season, Nebraska comes into its match vs. Creighton having won all 15 sets it has played.
   This year, that makes the Cornhuskers one of two teams nationally that has not yet dropped a set, with the other squad being a 2-0 Princeton team that hosts Santa Clara on Tuesday.
   Last year Nebraska won its first 17 sets of the season before Creighton won the third and fourth sets of their match-up.
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Nationally Elite
The season is just a few weeks old, but Creighton has already soared to the top 10 in seven different team categories in the NCAA stat rankings.
   The Bluejays lead the nation in attacks per set, are second in both digs per set and kills per set, third in total kills, fourth in assists per set, sixth in total digs and 10th in total attacks. All four per set averages are well above CU's marks last fall.
   And while it's not reflected in the chart below, it's worth noting that Nebraska is leading the nation in opponent's hitting percentage (a scant .037), after also leading the country a year ago (.128) in that category.
Category   2022 Rank (Total)   2023 Rank (Total)
Attacks Per Set   57th (36.32)   1st (41.04)
Digs Per Set   22nd (16.57)   2nd (18.91)
Kills Per Set   8th (14.39)   2nd (15.61)
Total Kills   15th (1,713)   3rd (359)
Total Assists   15th (1,591)   4th (322)
Assists Per Set   8th (13.37)   4th (14.00)
Total Digs   22nd (1,972)   6th (434)
Total Attacks   46th (4,322)   10th (944)
Junior Duo Honored
Juniors Norah Sis and Kendra Wait have been honored by the BIG EAST Conference after helping the Creighton Volleyball team to the Bluejay Invitational title over the weekend. 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 10 of its 23 sets have been decided by exactly two points. That doesn't include two drama-filled fifth sets that finished 15-11.
   Last Sunday 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.
   Last year's Creighton/Nebraska match included 31 ties and 12 lead changes.
   Of the 15 sets played by Nebraska this fall, only one has been decided by three points or fewer.
Closer And Closer
After winning just two sets in 14 meetings against Nebraska from 1994-2015, the Bluejays continue to draw closer and closer to picking up their first regular-season win over the Cornhuskers.
   In 2018 Creighton led 2-0, only to lose in five sets. Last fall, Creighton won the third and fourth sets but lost the match in five. Both of those contests came in front of record crowds at CHI Health Center Omaha.
   Creighton's last three trips to Lincoln have been tied at 1-1 at intermission. CU won the first set in 2014 and 2016 and overcame a set one loss to win set two in 2019.
History Will Be Made
Strange as it may seem, the fact that Creighton hasn't played in Lincoln since 2019 means no current Bluejays have ever played against Nebraska in the Star City. Kiana Schmitt was on CU's 2019 team, but did not play against Nebraska (nor the next day against Baylor).
   Three current Bluejays played in a state tournament final at Bob Devaney Sports Center. Katie Maser lost the Class C1 final in 2017 but won a Class C2 title as a senior in 2019 with Grand Island Central Catholic. Sky McCune lost in the 2019 Class A final with Gretna. And last November Destiny Ndam-Simpson lost in the 2022 Class A final with Omaha Westside.
By Design, Not Realignment
Don't be misled by Creighton's challenging non-conference schedule that includes trips to Purdue, Nebraska and Minnesota in the first 23 days of the season, the Bluejays have not joined the Big Ten Conference.
   On Aug. 26th Creighton snapped Purdue's 35-match non-conference home winning streak (which dated to 2016) and also became the first non-conference team to sweep Boilermakers at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette since 2007.
   Since the start of the 2021 season, the only team to beat both Purdue and Nebraska on the road in the same season was the 2022 Wisconsin team that won the league.
Juniors Could Steal The Show
Wednesday's match features two of the nation's best juniors in Creighton outside hitter Norah Sis and Nebraska libero Lexi Rodriguez.
   Sis was named 2021 National Freshman of the Year by VolleyballMag.com, while Rodriguez earned the same honor from the American Volleyball Coaches Association that season.
Dynamic Duo
In Ava Martin (4.48 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.
   Creighton is currently one of five teams to own multiple players averaging 4.00 kills per set or more, joining Arkansas, Chicago State, Georgia and South Alabama.
   Martin, who was averaging 1.41 kills per set (24 kills in 17 sets) after six matches a year ago heading into the Nebraska match, is one of just nine players nationally averaging at least 4.40 kills per set while hitting .297 or better.
Two Of The Best
Few teams in the country have been as successful in the last dozen years as Creighton and Nebraska.
   Since the start of the 2012 season, Nebraska ranks fourth nationally with 300 wins while Creighton is tied for seventh with 288 victories.
   If you base success only by win percentage, Nebraska is sixth with an .824 win percentage since 2012, while Creighton is tied for eighth by winning at an .804 clip.
   If you're curious, Western Kentucky leads the nation with 319 wins since 2012, while Texas owns an NCAA-best .889 win percentage in that span.
The Gauntlet Continues
Creighton faces another challenging non-conference week ahead, taking on No. 4 Nebraska, 2022 Summit League Tournament runner-up Omaha and an unbeaten Iowa State team that is just outside the Top 25.
   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 will be 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.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 177-41 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 19-23 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark improves to 2-1 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
   Since the start of the 2012 season, 38 of Creighton's 70 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 266-32 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 97 home matches over unranked teams and all but 11 of its last 126 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
   After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last nine seasons (2015-23). That includes a record-tying four top-25 victories in 2019.
   Creighton is 24-84 all-time against ranked teams and 13 of those top 25 wins all-time have come against either Marquette (8) or Kentucky (5).
   The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
   Each of the last four times Creighton's played in a battle of top-25 teams, the team with the "worse" ranking heading into the match ended up winning.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 19-23)
Home: 8-9Â Â Â Away: 6-8 Â Â Â 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   #16 Creighton at #4 Nebraska   7 pm
110 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked in the most recent AVCA poll for the 110th time in program history. That's tied with Missouri for 42nd-most of all programs in NCAA history, and close behind Loyola Marymount (114) and Santa Clara (113).
   All 110 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 33 polls.
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.
   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 27 tournament titles, not to mention 10 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton's Tournament Titles Since 2012
Year   Titles Won   Tourney Hosts
2012Â Â Â 3Â Â Â USF, UNC, MVC
2013Â Â Â 1Â Â Â BGSU
2014Â Â Â 1Â Â Â CU, BIG EAST
2015Â Â Â 1Â Â Â BIG EAST
2016Â Â Â 1Â Â Â BIG EAST
2017Â Â Â 4Â Â Â WASH, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2018Â Â Â 3Â Â Â SMU, CU, BIG EAST
2019Â Â Â 2Â Â Â UNI, CU
2020Â Â Â 1Â Â Â BIG EAST
2021Â Â Â 5Â Â Â MIZZ, UK, CU, WSU, BIG EAST
2022Â Â Â 3Â Â Â WYO, UNO, BIG EAST
2023Â Â Â 2Â Â Â Purdue, CU
All Or Nothing
Creighton just can't seem to play a four-set match. Believe or it not, before last Sunday's 3-1 win over UNI the Jays had played 27 straight matches that have lasted either three sets or five sets since its last four-set contest, a 3-1 win over Kansas State on Sept. 17, 2022.
   Since that win over K-State last September, Creighton is 18-1 in three-set battles, 1-0 in four-set contests and 5-3 in five-set marathons.
   In the last four years, Creighton has as many five-set losses (going 12-7) as it does in three-set (52-3) and four-set (11-4) matches combined.
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
Bolton & Martin Take Home Hardware
Creighton libero Ellie Bolton was named MVP and joined on the All-Tournament Team by outside hitter Ava Martin at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier, which concluded on Aug. 27 in West Lafayette, Ind.
   Playing as CU's primary libero for the first time since her freshman campaign, Bolton averaged a team-leading 4.82 digs per set over 11 sets. She had eight digs in the season-opening win vs. Loyola (Chicago), then added 22 digs, two assists and an ace in a 3-0 sweep of No. 16 Purdue. She concluded the weekend with 23 digs, eight assists, eight digs and an ace in a five-set contest against Duke.
   The recognition was the first career All-Tournament Team honor for the Shawnee, Kan., native, and also made her CU's first libero ever to take home Tournament MVP honors.
   Martin was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading Creighton with 4.45 kills per set as the sophomore hit .312. Martin got better with each match throughout the weekend. She opened with 14 kills and four digs on .265 hitting in the win over Loyola (Chicago), then produced 15 kills and six digs on .268 hitting in the sweep of No. 16 Purdue. She closed out her weekend with 20 kills and eight digs on .405 hitting.
   The Overland Park, Kan., product was previously selected to the All-Tournament Team at last year's BIG EAST Championships.
Martin Earns BIG EAST Award
Creighton sophomore Ava Martin was named the first BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week of the season on Aug. 28th after helping the Bluejay Volleyball team to a title at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier in West Lafayette, Ind.
   Martin was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting a BIG EAST-leading 4.45 kills per set. Martin got better with each match throughout the weekend. She opened with 14 kills and four digs on .265 hitting in the win over defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Loyola (Chicago), then produced 15 kills and six digs on .268 hitting in the sweep of No. 16 Purdue to snap the Boilermakers 35-match home win streak in non-conference play. She closed out her weekend with 20 kills and eight digs on .405 hitting against Duke.
   All told, the Overland Park, Kan., native hit .312 for the week and also contributed 1.64 digs per set.
   It was the first time Martin has been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, though she was a four-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week last fall when she was voted BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
My Favorite Martin
Ava Martin has started her sophomore season with matches of 14 (Loyola), 15 (Purdue), 20 (Duke), 16 (Ball State), 16 (LSU) and 22 (UNI) kills, good enough to own the BIG EAST lead with 4.48 kills per set.
   Martin also finished her freshman season last fall with matches of 22 (Marquette) and 14 (Auburn) kills.
   Both those items put her in select company.
   Martin is the first Bluejay ever with four (or more...she's currently 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 has averaged 4.21 kills per set while hitting .287. Seven of the eight opponents were in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
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 19 contests immediately following a loss and have not dropped consecutive matches since opening the season 0-2 to begin the 2019 campaign with back-to-back losses to No. 2 Nebraska and No. 20 Baylor in Lincoln, Neb.
   Creighton has also won its last 12 matches after a five-set loss, a streak that dates back to early in the 2016 campaign.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 27-5 last season, won a ninth straight BIG EAST regular-season title, won its eight BIG EAST Tournament in the past nine seasons, and played in its 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament.
   Norah Sis was named BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Tournament MVP. She was joined on the All-BIG EAST squad by Kiana Schmitt, Kendra Wait and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Ava Martin.
   CU posted three top-25 victories in the season, topping No. 25 USC (Sept. 2), No. 16 Marquette (Oct. 14) and No. 14 Marquette (Nov. 26).
A Head Start
Creighton got a leg up on the competition thanks to having 10 extra practices in May and a trip to Italy and Slovenia from May 31 - June 11th.
   Every member of the current team except Emma Ziegler was on the trip, which also included four matches.
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
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)
2009Â Â Â Highest HMÂ Â Â Boggs, Greisch, Moon, Templeton, Thorson)
2010Â Â Â High HMÂ Â Â (Fliss, Hackbarth, Malm, Mandolfo, S. Smith)
2011Â Â Â Highest HMÂ Â Â (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)
2019Â Â Â Highest HMÂ Â Â (Bressman, Krause, Schmitt, Van Eekeren)
2020   27th   (Bolton, Maser, Reinhardt, Skovsende)
2021   5th   (Magill, Milner, Sis, Wait)
2022   24th   (Colangelo, Martin, McCune, Remmes)
2023   22nd   (Breissinger, Clark, Johnson, Ndam-Simpson, TeStrake)
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-18 letterwinners to the court from last season, including five starters.
   From last year's team, only Emily Bressman, Bethany Clapp, Keeley Davis, Jazz Schmidt, Megan Skovsende, Allison Whitten and Jaela Zimmerman are not back.
   All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 524.3 of a possible 700% back (74.9 percent).
   Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat   Returners   Departures
Assists   1,384 (86.2%)   221 (13.8%)
Blocks   204 (84.3%)   38 (15.7%)
Matches Started   154 (80.2%)   192 (19.8%)
Kills   1,329 (77.6%)   383 (22.4%)
Points   1648 (76.9%)   494 (23.1%)
Aces   115 (61.2%)   73 (38.8%)
Digs   1142 (57.9%)   830 (42.1%)
A Bunch of Winners
Creighton owned 58 wins during the previous two seasons, fourth-most in the nation in that span and trailing only Final Four qualifiers Louisville (63), Pitt (61) and Wisconsin (59).
   The only teams with 27 or more wins each of the past two campaigns are Creighton, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Texas, UCF, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin.
No Losers Here
Creighton has been nearly as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
   Creighton, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Texas, Towson, Western Kentucky and Wisconsin are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.
   If you go back two years more, the nation's only teams to lose six times or less in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons are Creighton, Pittsburgh and Texas.
11 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous 11 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
   The only other sport in Creighton history to make 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
   Creighton is one of nine teams nationally to have appeared in each of the previous 11 NCAA Tournaments (2012-22). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington.
   There are also 13 schools that have appeared in 12 of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue and Stanford.
   Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, San Diego, Texas and Washington have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
A Great Start
Norah Sis entered her junior season with 924 kills in her career. The 924 kills was the second-most ever by a Bluejay in their first two seasons, trailing only Jaali Winters' 994.
   Winters ended her career with a school-record 1,843 kills.
   Sis currently owns 1,019 kills in 71 career matches, while Winters owned 983 kills after 71 career matches and had 11 in her 72nd contest.
Most Kills, After 2 Seasons at Creighton
   Kills   Yr1   Yr2   Name   Year
   994   546   448   Jaali Winters   2015 & 2016
   924   435   489   Norah Sis   2021 & 2022
   769   341   428   Melissa Walsh   1998 & 1999
   733   270   463   Alicia Runge   2009 & 2010 (Jr. & Sr.)
   696   180   516   Leah Ratzlaff   2002 & 2003
   653   267   386   Jessica Houts   2005 & 2006
   640   225   415   Amanda Cvejdlik   2005 & 2006
Setting The Table
Two-time All-BIG EAST selection Kendra Wait has started all 72 matches she's played in during her career, with Creighton going 63-9 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 446-3 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
08/26/11Â Â Â vs. UTSAÂ Â Â 12-14, 13-14Â Â Â 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 69-37 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
   Creighton has won 18 of its last 25 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win at Georgetown in 2015, an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016, 2017 victories at Butler, Georgetown and Marquette, a 2018 win at Butler, wins at UNI and No. 10 Marquette in 2019, at South Dakota in the 2020 campaign and at Omaha and UConn in 2022.
   It's also worth noting that Creighton is 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
1994Â Â Â 0-2Â Â Â 5-20
1995Â Â Â 0-2Â Â Â 11-19
1996Â Â Â 2-6Â Â Â 9-19
1997Â Â Â 3-5Â Â Â 15-13
1998Â Â Â 2-3Â Â Â 7-18
1999Â Â Â 3-3Â Â Â 13-15
2000Â Â Â 3-3Â Â Â 16-12
2001Â Â Â 1-1Â Â Â 14-13
2002Â Â Â 1-3Â Â Â 3-23
2003Â Â Â 5-1Â Â Â 12-18
2004Â Â Â 4-0Â Â Â 18-11
2005Â Â Â 3-1Â Â Â 16-14
2006Â Â Â 4-2Â Â Â 21-10
2007Â Â Â 2-0Â Â Â 21-10
2008Â Â Â 2-3Â Â Â 18-9
2009Â Â Â 1-4Â Â Â 14-17
2010Â Â Â 3-3Â Â Â 21-12
2011Â Â Â 5-2Â Â Â 17-14
2012Â Â Â 4-1Â Â Â 29-4
2013Â Â Â 3-2Â Â Â 23-9
2014Â Â Â 3-2Â Â Â 25-9
2015Â Â Â 5-2Â Â Â 27-9
2016Â Â Â 4-3Â Â Â 29-7
2017Â Â Â 4-1Â Â Â 26-7
2018Â Â Â 3-2Â Â Â 29-5
2019Â Â Â 2-1Â Â Â 25-6
2020Â Â Â 4-2Â Â Â 12-4
2021Â Â Â 1-1Â Â Â 31-4
2022Â Â Â 6-3Â Â Â 27-5
2023Â Â Â 1-1Â Â Â 5-1
Total   84-65   539-337
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 18-2 in the match following a five-setter since Aug. 25, 2018.
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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.
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 BYUÂ Â Â 6 American
8 (1) Colorado State   6 LIU
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
2020Â Â Â 1st (MW)Â Â Â 1st (MW)Â Â Â - -
2021   1st   1st   - -
2022   1st   1st   - -
2023   2nd   ???   ???
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 11th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
   Since then, the Bluejays are 92-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (83-3 in the regular-season, 9-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
   Since November of 2014, Creighton is 76-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 68-1 league mark and a 8-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
   Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in 2018, Bluejay fifth-year senior Kiana Schmitt is 35-1 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (with 28 straight wins), and 105-22 in sets.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
   Marquette won the regular-season and tournament title in 2013, while Creighton swept both titles in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. CU won the 2019 regular-season crown, while St. John's upset nationally-ranked Creighton and Marquette to bring home the 2019 tournament title. In 2020, Creighton won the Midwest Division regular-season title, while St. John's claimed the East Division crown. In both 2021 and 2022, Creighton and Marquette shared the regular-season title and CU won the 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. 3, 2023
           BIG EAST only   All   matches
Team (NCAA Bids)Â Â Â WÂ Â Â LÂ Â Â WÂ Â Â L
Creighton (10)Â Â Â 154Â Â Â 14Â Â Â 259Â Â Â 66
Marquette (9)Â Â Â 137Â Â Â 28Â Â Â 240Â Â Â 76
Xavier   97   69   154   143
Butler   91   77   161   140
Villanova (1)Â Â Â 83Â Â Â 85Â Â Â 158Â Â Â 137
St. John's (1)Â Â Â 81Â Â Â 87Â Â Â 178Â Â Â 139
Seton Hall (1)Â Â Â 72Â Â Â 95Â Â Â 146Â Â Â 155
DePaul   46   122   112   175
Georgetown   35   125   91   187
Connecticut#Â Â Â 27Â Â Â 17Â Â Â 47Â Â Â 36
Providence*Â Â Â 26Â Â Â 126Â Â Â 97Â Â Â 171
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 368-11 (.971) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 311-5 mark (.984) under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU is 235-3 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 17-204 (.077) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, and 15-105 (.125) under Booth. Those 17 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date   Opponent   Sets 3-5 scores   Coach
09/19/97   at Bradley   15-11, 15-13, 15-8   Wallace
10/01/99   at Drake   15-6, 17-15, 15-11   Wallace
09/03/04   vs. Montana   30-20, 30-21, 15-11   Booth
10/15/04   at Bradley   30-22, 30-23, 15-11   Booth
10/15/05   at So. Illinois   30-25, 30-24, 15-8   Booth
09/21/07   at No. Iowa   31-29, 30-26, 15-12   Booth
11/16/12   at Wichita St.   25-16, 25-20, 16-14   Booth
09/05/14   vs. No. Iowa   25-16, 25-22, 15-5   Booth
11/08/14   at Butler   25-16, 25-20, 15-13   Booth
09/20/15   Kansas State   25-23, 26-24, 15-13   Booth
10/09/15   DePaul   25-21, 25-12, 15-11   Booth
11/20/15   at Georgetown   30-28, 26-24, 15-7   Booth
10/13/17   Butler   25-21, 25-23, 15-9   Booth
10/18/18   Xavier   25-17, 25-17, 15-13   Booth
01/31/21   at So. Dakota   25-20, 25-23, 15-7   Booth
10/07/22   at UConn   25-15, 25-12, 15-13   Booth
10/14/22   #16 Marquette   25-19, 25-16, 15-8   Booth
A Dozen, Cousin
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in some select company, as she has directed her team to 12 NCAA Tournaments. That's more than any other coach in Creighton history.
Name   Sport   NCAA's @CU
Kirsten Bernthal Booth   Volleyball   12
Bob Warming   Men's Soccer   11
Greg McDermott   Men's Basketball   8
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7
Elmar Bolowich   Men's Soccer   6
Jim Flanery   Women's Basketball   6
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 446 victories on the Bluejay sideline to rank fifth in school history across all sports.
Coach, Sport   Victories (thru 9/3/23)
Brent Vigness, Softball   819
Ed Servais, Baseball   643*
Mary Higgins, Softball   564
Tom Lilly, Men's & Women's Tennis   528*#
Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Volleyball   446*
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
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton is 377-35 (.915) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 69-150 (.315) under Booth when it drops the first set.
   Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set in 2018 won just 20.7 percent of their matches that season, and 20.2 percent of their matches from 2009-18.
   Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 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 109-5 in its last 114 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 12-16 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
   Creighton has gone 150-3 in its last 153 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team has at least 11 matches (Loyola Chicago, Purdue, Ball State, LSU, UNI, Nebraska, Iowa State, High Point, Minnesota and Marquette 2x) scheduled against teams that made the 2022 NCAA Tournament. So far, they're 2-0 against that group.
   After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 99-105 since.
Year   W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994Â Â Â 0-4
1995Â Â Â 0-2
1996Â Â Â 0-2
1997Â Â Â 0-3
1998Â Â Â 0-5
1999Â Â Â 2-4
2000Â Â Â 0-4
2001Â Â Â 1-6
2002Â Â Â 0-5
2003Â Â Â 0-3
2004Â Â Â 2-2
2005Â Â Â 0-6
2006Â Â Â 4-6
2007Â Â Â 4-9
2008Â Â Â 6-8
2009Â Â Â 1-11
2010Â Â Â 4-7
2011Â Â Â 2-6
2012Â Â Â 8-3
2013Â Â Â 6-6
2014Â Â Â 4-5
2015Â Â Â 11-5
2016Â Â Â 10-7
2017Â Â Â 8-6
2018Â Â Â 8-5
2019Â Â Â 5-4
2020Â Â Â 3-1
2021Â Â Â 3-1
2022Â Â Â 5-4
2023Â Â Â 5-0 so far
TOTALÂ Â Â 102-140
TOTAL Under Booth   99-105
Year-By-Year In Non-Conference Play
Despite annually facing one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, Creighton has continued to excel against elite competition.
   Creighton is 9-12 against ranked non-conference foes over the last seven seasons after going 2-43 all-time vs. ranked teams in regular-season non-conference matches.
Non-Conference Records, By Year, Under Booth
Year   Non-Con W-L   vs. Ranked Non-Con   Final W-L
2003Â Â Â 3-8Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 12-18
2004Â Â Â 8-2Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â 18-11
2005Â Â Â 6-5Â Â Â 0-3Â Â Â 16-14
2006Â Â Â 8-3Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â 21-10
2007Â Â Â 6-5Â Â Â 0-3Â Â Â 21-10
2008Â Â Â 3-5Â Â Â 0-3Â Â Â 18-9
2009Â Â Â 3-8Â Â Â 0-3Â Â Â 14-17
2010Â Â Â 5-5Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â 21-12
2011Â Â Â 5-7Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â 17-14
2012Â Â Â 9-2Â Â Â 0-1Â Â Â 29-4
2013Â Â Â 9-3Â Â Â 1-2Â Â Â 23-9
2014Â Â Â 7-6Â Â Â 0-5Â Â Â 25-9
2015Â Â Â 6-7Â Â Â 1-4Â Â Â 27-9
2016Â Â Â 6-6Â Â Â 0-4Â Â Â 29-7
2017Â Â Â 7-4Â Â Â 3-3Â Â Â 26-7
2018Â Â Â 8-4Â Â Â 1-3Â Â Â 29-5
2019Â Â Â 7-3Â Â Â 2-3Â Â Â 25-6
2020Â Â Â 3-2Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 12-4
2021Â Â Â 12-1Â Â Â 1-1Â Â Â 31-4
2022Â Â Â 8-3Â Â Â 1-2Â Â Â 27-5
2023Â Â Â 5-1Â Â Â 1-0Â Â Â 5-1 so far
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a record better than .500 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
   The Bluejays own 171 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 28 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
   CU still has not lost to four league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Xavier) since joining the BIG EAST, and Marquette (5), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent   Reg. Season   BE Tourney   Total
Butler   18-1   -   18-1
Connecticut   2-1   1-0   3-1
DePaul   20-0   1-0   21-0
Georgetown   18-0   -   18-0
Marquette   16-4   6-1   22-5
Providence   15-0   -   15-0
Seton Hall   15-3   2-0   17-3
St. John's   16-2   0-1   16-3
Villanova   15-3   3-0   18-3
Xavier   19-0   4-0   23-0
Total   154-14   17-2   171-16
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).
Players Mentioned
RS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
DS/OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
RS/S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH/DS
/ Volleyball
RS/OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballCreighton VB Postgame Press Conference vs Butler 9/27/25
Sunday, September 28
Butler at #16 Creighton Volleyball Highlights - 9/27/25
Sunday, September 28
Creighton VB Postgame Presser vs Xavier 9/26/25
Saturday, September 27
#16 Creighton Volleyball Highlights vs. Xavier - 9/26/25
Saturday, September 27
