Friday, October 10
Washington, DC
6:00 PM
Creighton University
at
Georgetown
#13 Volleyball Makes East Coast Visit to BIG EAST Contenders
10/7/2025 12:28:00 PM | Volleyball
Jays have won six straight
Match #17: #13 Creighton at Georgetown • Washington, D.C. • Friday, Oct. 10 • 6:00 p.m. CT
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | GU NOTES |
Match #18: #13 Creighton at Villanova • Villanova, Pa. • Saturday, Oct. 11 • 6:00 p.m. CST
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | VU NOTES |
Next Up
No. 13 Creighton Volleyball (11-5, 4-0 BIG EAST) looks to extend its six-match winning streak with its first of three trips to the East Coast this season.
The Bluejays start their weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. Central with a match against Georgetown (10-7, 3-1 BIG EAST) in Washington, D.C., inside McDonough Arena.
Twenty-four hours later, the Bluejays meet Villanova (12-3, 3-1 BIG EAST) at 6 p.m. Central. That contest will take place inside Jake Nevin Field House in Villanova, Pa.
Broadcast Information
Both of Creighton's matches this weekend will air on ESPN+. A subscription is required to view the matches on http://watchESPN.com.
Live Stats Information
Both of this weekend's matches will have live stats at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
Scouting #13 Creighton
Creighton is 11-5 this season and 4-0 in the BIG EAST after dropping just one set in league play thus far. The Bluejays played seven matches against ranked foes in non-conference action, winning two of them, and are 9-0 against unranked foes.
Creighton has won eight of its last nine matches, with a five-set loss to No. 1 Nebraska the only setback in that time, to climb to No. 13 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll.
Ava Martin (4.07 kps.,0.44 saps.) was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, while fellow senior Kiara Reinhardt (2.47 kps., .428%, 1.16 bps.) is also playing at an All-American level. The seniors were named BIG EAST Offensive, and Defensive, Players of the Week respectively, on Monday.
Annalea Maeder (10.14 aps.) has taken the reigns as CU setter, while Saige Damrow (3.40 dps.) and Sydney Breissinger (2.28 dps.) have both seen time at libero.
CU averages 13.40 kills, 1.93 aces, 14.12 digs and 2.41 blocks per set while hitting .243.
Scouting Georgetown
Georgetown is 10-7 this season, including a 3-1 start to league play. Since a 1-5 start, the Hoyas are 9-2, with the only two setbacks in that streak being five-set losses to Clemson and Xavier.
Dionna Mitchell (3.07 kps.) and Samantha Soderlund (2.74 kps.) lead an offense featuring five women who average at least 1.80 kills per set, giving setters Juleigh Urbina (6.14 aps., 0.46 saps.) and Natalie Nguyen (4.57 aps.) plenty of options to find.
The Hoyas average 12.29 kills, 12.81 digs, 2.00 blocks and 1.90 aces per set on .228 hitting as a team.
Series History vs. Georgetown
Creighton is 22-0 all-time against Georgetown, dropping just seven sets in those contests. It's Creighton's most meetings against any opponent without a loss.
In 2015, Creighton lost the first two sets before ultimately saving two match points in a 3-2 road victory. In 2017 Creighton trailed 2-1 in the match before pulling out a 15-13 win in the fifth set after it trailed in the last set by scores of 5-0 and 13-12.
Creighton has won 23 straight sets against GU in Washington, D.C., and 26 straight sets against the Hoyas at all sites.
Creighton trailed for a total of two points en route to a pair of sweeps over the Hoyas last season.
Brian Rosen is 20-0 against Georgetown and 0-0 against AJ Bonetti, while Bonetti is 0-4 all-time against Creighton.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova is 12-3 this season and 3-1 in BIG EAST play after Saturday's five-set home loss to Xavier.
Abby Harrell (3.76 kps., .282%, 2.73 dps.) leads the team in kills and Campbell McKinnon (3.13 kps., .439%, 1.02 bps.) has emerged as one of the top players in the BIG EAST.
Alyssa Nelson (5.98 aps.) and Ava Harris (5.56 aps.) share setting duties and Reagan McGivern (1.03 bps.) leads the way in blocks.
The Wildcats average 14.19 kills, 13.19 digs, 2.12 blocks and 1.47 aces per set and hit .287 as a team.
Series History vs. Villanova
Creighton is 22-3 all-time vs. Villanova, and has swept each of the last eight meetings since a Wildcat victory on Nov. 8, 2019.
CU is 13-0 in Omaha against the Wildcats, and won the last 23 sets played vs. VU at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Brian Rosen is 0-0 all-time against Villanova and coach Josh Steinbach, while Steinbach is 3-22 all-time against Creighton.
Creighton Coaches
Brian Rosen was named the fourth head coach in modern Creighton Volleyball history on April 6, 2025, as he was promoted following the departure of 22-year head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. He is 11-5 as Creighton head coach, defeating No. 14 Kansas on Aug. 31 for his first win on the Bluejay sideline.
Named the 2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Rosen served as a Creighton assistant from 2022-24, during which time CU went 88-13, swept the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament tiles each fall, and defeated 10 Top 25 opponents.
The 2008 South Carolina grad went 45-17 as head coach at Division II Nova Southeastern from 2019-21, though the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19 without playing a match.
Rosen is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Adam Kessenich and Izzy Ashburn.
With A Win...
With a win on Friday at Georgetown, Creighton would...
- Extend a program record by winning its 36th consecutive regular-season conference match, and 40th in a row against BIG EAST teams.
- Win its 54th straight match against an unranked team.
- Win its 45th straight non-televised match.
- Creighton would improve to 23-0 all-time against Georgetown, its most wins against any school without a loss.
- Creighton would improve to 193-16 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST matches, and 90-13 in BIG EAST road contests.
- Creighton would improve to 214-18 against BIG EAST opponents since joining the league in 2013.
- Extend its season-high win streak to seven, and its October win streak to 18.
Milestone Watch
Creighton's student-athletes are approaching all sorts of milestones heading into the week...
- Creighton would win its 100th match with Brian Rosen on the sideline. He's currently 99-18 after going 88-13 as an assistant and 11-5 as a head coach.
- Similarly, Ava Martin has played in 98 victories since arriving at Creighton in 2022 (she DNP in a 2022 win vs. Seton Hall).
- Destiny Ndam-Simpson is one kill shy of 250.
- Kiara Reinhardt is 15 blocks short of 500 and 29 kills short of 700 in her career.
- Annalea Maeder owns 959 career digs (150 at Creighton) and is 41 shy of 1,000 in her career.
- Annalea Maeder is seven aces shy of 150 in her career.
Senior Duo Honored by BIG EAST Again
A 2-0 week helped a pair of Creighton seniors earn recognition from the BIG EAST Conference on Monday, as Ava Martin and Kiara Reinhardt were named Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Martin averaged 5.93 points, 4.86 kills, 2.43 digs, 0.86 aces and 0.43 blocks per set while hitting .435. The points and kills per set led all BIG EAST players while her aces per set were third-best and hitting percentage was seventh-most.
This is the sixth time in Martin's career she's been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, joining a pair of honors in both 2023 (Aug. 28 & Sept. 18) and 2024 (Nov. 4 & Nov. 25), as well as Sept. 22, 2025 earlier this fall. The Overland Park, Kan., native's six career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week citations is tied for second-most in CU history with Jaela Zimmerman and trails only Norah Sis' nine from 2021-24.
Reinhardt averaged 2.86 kills, 1.29 blocks and 1.00 assists per set on league-best .643 hitting. Reinhardt's second straight recognition gives her seven career BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week accolades. She also earned honors once each in 2021 and 2023, and three times in 2024. In CU history, only two-time Libero of the Year Brittany Witt (with 8) has been recognized more by the BIG EAST as Defensive Player of the Week.
So Far, So Good
Creighton is 22-0 all-time against Georgetown, its most meetings against any foe without a loss.
Here's those leaders since CU resumed volleyball in 1994:
Most Meetings Without a Creighton Loss
W-L Opponent Sets Lost by CU
22 Georgetown 7
17 Providence 1
5 Omaha 2
5 Tulsa 2
Reinhardt Passes Century Mark; Martin Next?
Kiara Reinhardt has played in 107 victories as a Bluejay, becoming the 13th woman to reach the century mark.
Creighton is 107-22 (.829) all-time in the matches Reinhardt has appeared in (they're 35-4 in matches she doesn't play in, including her redshirt year). Her current .829 win percentage ranks fourth-best in program history among those with 100 or more victories.
Ava Martin is 98-18 (.845) and looks to join this group this weekend.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
119 Kendra Wait 2021-24
116 Naomi Hickman 2017-21
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
110 Kiana Schmitt 2019-23
109 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
109 Brittany Witt 2016-19
109 Norah Sis 2021-24
107 Megan Ballenger 2016-19
107 Kiara Reinhardt 2020-Pres.
106 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
104 Lauren Smith 2013-16
102 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
101 Ashley Jansen 2012-15
98 Jaela Zimmerman 2018-22
98 Ava Martin 2022-Pres.
Best Win Pct. in Matches Appeared In As A Player (min. 100 wins)
W-L Pct. Name Years
109-14 .886 Norah Sis 2021-24
119-16 .881 Kendra Wait 2021-24
110-16 .873 Kiana Schmitt 2019-23
105-22 .827 Kiara Reinhardt 2020-Pres.
109-24 .820 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
116-26 .817 Naomi Hickman 2017-21
109-25 .813 Brittany Witt 2016-19
107-25 .811 Megan Ballenger 2016-19
111-28 .799 Jaali Winters 2015-18
106-32 .768 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
102-31 .767 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
101-31 .765 Ashley Jansen 2012-15
104-34 .754 Lauren Smith 2013-16
Most Wins, Four-Year Span
W-L Years
119-17 2021-24
111-28 2015-18
109-25 2016-19
107-32 2014-17
104-31 2012-15
104-34 2013-16
99-18 2020-23
99-18 2022-Pres.
97-19 2018-21
95-19 2019-22
The Gauntlet Continues
After playing the nation's third-toughest non-conference schedules, including seven Top 25 opponents, Creighton has already faced some of the best teams the BIG EAST has to offer.
As it looks to face a pair of 3-1 teams that are tied for second in the BIG EAST, it's also worth noting that the Bluejays have already handed Marquette (3-1) and Xavier (3-1) their only league losses to date.
Best League Starts
Creighton has started 4-0 in conference play for the ninth time in 13 seasons in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays have started 11-0 or better in league action six times in the previous 10 years and went 18-0 in 2016, 2018 and 2024.
Most Wins Before First League Loss
Wins Year (League) First League Loss
18-0 2018 (BIG EAST) None
18-0 2016 (BIG EAST) None
18-0 2024 (BIG EAST) None
17 2022 (BIG EAST) 11/19 at #16 Marquette
12 2019 (BIG EAST) 11/8 at Villanova
11 2015 (BIG EAST) 10/30 at Villanova
7 2007 (MVC) 10/12 vs. Wichita State
5 2014 (BIG EAST) 10/10 at Seton Hall
5 2011 (MVC) 10/7 at Missouri State
5 2006 (MVC) 10/6 vs. Northern Iowa
4 2017 (BIG EAST) 10/5 at Marquette
4 2025 (BIG EAST) TBD
Fun Facts
Villanova coach Josh Steinbach is 3-22 all-time against Creighton, but those three wins put him in select company.
Of the 20 different opponents on Creighton's 2025 schedule, Steinbach is one of three head coaches who has beaten CU three times or more at their current school.
Steinbach is joined by St. John's Joanne Persico (3-21) and Northern Iowa's Bobbi Petersen (29-17).
The only other head coaches on Creighton's 2025 schedule with multiple wins over the Bluejays are Texas' Jerritt Elliott (2-1) and Penn State's Katie Schumacher-Cawley (2-0).
Nice Work, Ace
Creighton tied a program-record with 15 service aces on Saturday vs. DePaul, with Ava Martin (6), Alivia Hausmann (3), Jaya Johnson (3), Sydney Breissinger (2) and Annalea Maeder (1) all getting in the act.
Saturday was the fourth time in program history that CU has recorded 15 aces or more, and first time it's done so in a true road match.
Creighton set a school-record with 224 aces in 35 matches last season (6.40 per match) and averaged a whopping 2.32 aces per set in league play. This year's team has 110 aces in 16 matches (6.88 per match) and is averaging 2.69 aces per set in league action.
Most Creighton Service Aces, Match
15 vs. Northeastern Illinois (3s) 09-23-95
15 vs. UMKC (4s) 11-12-95
15 vs. Seton Hall (3s) 11-15-24
15 at DePaul (4s) 10-04-25
14 at UMKC (4s) 10-30-94
14 vs. UNC-Greensboro (4s) 09-02-00
14 vs. Butler (3s) 10-20-18
14 vs. DePaul (4s) 11-24-19
14 vs. UMKC (5s) 09-28-04
Golden Eagle Avalanche
Creighton hit a season-best .410 in last Thursday's 3-0 win at Marquette, becoming the first BIG EAST team to sweep the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee since 2015.
The .410 hitting percentage was CU's best mark ever against Marquette, as seen below:
CU's Best Hitting Percentage vs. Marquette
Pct. Opponent (K-E-TA) Date
.410 at Marquette (50-9-100) 10/02/25
.387 Marquette (54-11-111) 11/05/23
.356 at Marquette (58-10-135) 11/10/24
.356 at Marquette (57-15-110 10/11/15
A Smashing Success
Kiara Reinhardt had 14 kills and one error in 18 swings on Oct. 4 at DePaul, the second-best mark in program history for a four-set match.
The only performance that's been better was Reinhardt's .789 hitting (15-0-19) vs. San Diego earlier this year on Sept. 5, 2025.
Best Hitting Percentage, Four Sets (min. 12 kills)
.789 Kiara Reinhardt (15-0-19) vs. San Diego 09-05-25
.722 Kiara Reinhardt (14-1-18) at DePaul 10-04-25
.684 Kelli Browning (14-1-19) vs. Southern Illinois 10-27-12
.640 Naomi Hickman (17-1-25) vs. Kentucky 09-06-19
.636 Megan Bober (14-0-22) vs. Bradley 10-06-12
.625 Kelly Goc (26-1-40) vs. Drake 11-16-07
.615 Alicia Runge (17-1-26) vs. Bradley 09-25-10
.600 Kelli Browning (16-1-25) vs. Wisconsin 08-25-12
Jaya Does It All
Since moving into a role that has her playing all six rotations, sophomore Jaya Johnson has played like an All-American.
Johnson has averaged 3.00 kills, 2.21 digs, 1.26 blocks and 0.21 aces per set while hitting .296. Creighton is 6-0 in that time, dropping just one set.
Before the move, Johnson averaged 1.84 kills, 0.74 digs, 0.92 blocks and 0.00 aces per set while hitting .191. Creighton was 5-5 in those matches (18-18 in sets), though six of them came against top-25 foes.
Opening RPI
The first NCAA Volleyball RPI of the fall was released on October 6th and Creighton came in at No. 8, easily the best mark in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays are one of five BIG EAST teams in the top 61, joining Marquette (34), Xavier (45), Connecticut (58) and Villanova (61).
Friday's foe, Georgetown, is 149th, a 62 spot improvement over last year's year-end 211 finish.
That's Just Wild
Creighton has won 28 straight sets against Georgetown and 24 straight sets against Villanova. Both rank among the longest set win streaks over another foe in program history.
Both are still far behind an active 56-set win streak the Jays own against Seton Hall..
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
56 Seton Hall 2015-Present
32 Providence 2017-Present
28 Georgetown 2019-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
24 Villanova 2021-Present
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
19 Butler 2021-Present
CU Has Been Destroya The Hoya
Creighton has won 22 straight matches against Georgetown, its fourth-longest win streak ever against another foe. A win on Friday would tie it for the second-longest ever.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
28 DePaul 2013-Present
23 Xavier 2013-22
23 Butler 2013-Present
22 Georgetown 2013-Present
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
19 Seton Hall 2014-Present
17 Providence 2014-Present
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
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.
Creighton owns 11 regular-season titles (3 shared) in that time, while Marquette owns four regular-season (3 shared) crowns.
As it relates to BIG EAST Tournament titles, Creighton has won 10, Marquette one and St. John's one since 2013.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Oct. 8, 2025
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (12) 192 16 326 78
Marquette (11) 172 33 293 98
Xavier 119 87 193 172
St. John's (1) 105 103 227 173
Butler 103 105 185 186
Villanova (1) 103 105 200 166
Seton Hall (1) 86 121 173 195
DePaul 67 141 158 207
Georgetown 47 153 121 228
Connecticut# 44 40 92 65
Providence* 31 161 122 216
*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 winning percentage better than .800 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 213 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 34 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 (6), 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 23-1 - 23-1
Connecticut 4-1 1-0 5-1
DePaul 25-0 3-0 28-0
Georgetown 22-0 - 22-0
Marquette 20-5 7-1 27-6
Providence 17-0 - 17-0
Seton Hall 19-3 2-0 21-3
St. John's 20-2 1-1 21-3
Villanova 19-3 3-0 22-3
Xavier 23-1 4-0 27-1
TOTAL 192-16 21-2 213-18
Putting The 0 In October And November
Creighton is 83-6 in the 10th month of the year since Oct. 1, 2016, including 17 straight wins, and victories in 31 of its past 32 such matches.
Creighton's been awfully good in the month of November too. Since Nov. 1, 2014, CU is 71-4 in the 11th month of the year with 20 straight victories.
Creighton has won 43 straight October home matches (since 10/15/11) and 44 consecutive home matches in November (since 11/23/14). Incredibly, Creighton is 132-10 in sets in those home November contests.
All They Do Is Win
Creighton has won its last 35 BIG EAST regular-season matches to establish a program record.
The 35 straight regular-season league wins is tied with Notre Dame (Sept. 30, 1995 to Oct. 4, 1998) for the second-longest streak in BIG EAST history, and trails only the 45 in a row from Oct. 1, 1999 to Nov. 15, 2002 by the Irish.
Creighton's Most Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By League
35 Oct. 7, 2023 - Present ? ? ? BIG EAST
31 Nov. 18, 2017 - Nov. 3, 2019 at Villanova, 3-0 BIG EAST
28 Oct. 31, 2015 - Sept. 30, 2017 at Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
28 Oct. 17, 2021- Nov. 18, 2022 at #16 Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
14 Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012 Never (left MVC) MVC
Streaking In League Play
Add in conference tournament play and Creighton has won 39 straight matches against BIG EAST teams. In its 39 matches against BIG EAST schools since October 7, 2023, Creighton is 39-0 and has dropped just five sets to league opponents.
Though impressive, there's still two teams with longer active streaks against league foes (through Oct. 7).
Wins Team Current League
46 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley
44 Western Kentucky Conference-USA
39 Creighton BIG EAST
19 Arizona State Big 12
11 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Regular-season champions from 2014-24, Creighton is the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win 11 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 more than five straight league titles, more than doubling the previous high of five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96) in the MVC.
The only other volleyball team nationally with an active streak of more than five straight regular-season league titles is Kentucky, with eight.
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 12 conference regular-season titles. All but three of Creighton's 12 crowns were outright titles, whereas WKU has shared five. Texas has won 11 titles in that time.
Creighton has also won 11 conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2024
Regular-Season League Tournament
12 (3 shared) Creighton 11 Creighton
12 (5) Western Kentucky 10 Western Kentucky
11 (1) Texas 9 Dayton
11 (1) Fairfield 9 Fairfield
9 (8) Florida A&M
9 (5) Yale
9 (1) Colorado State
Kiara Got Her Block Back
Kiara Reinhardt led the BIG EAST and ranked 10th nationally with 1.48 blocks per set last season, a figure that climbed to 1.58 blocks per set against BIG EAST foes.
Reinhardt averages 1.92 blocks per set in league play this year, far above the next-closest player (PC's Lyric Berry, 1.40 bps.).
Reinhardt's 485 career blocks rank fifth-most in CU history and are just four behind Naomi Hickman (2017-21) for fourth in program history.
Johnson's Incredible Line
Jaya Johnson had 10 kills to go with six blocks and six digs in CU's Sept. 27 win against Butler.
She's the first Bluejay with at least 10 kills, six blocks and six digs in a match since Norah Sis had 22 kills, nine blocks and eight digs vs. DePaul on Oct. 16, 2022.
Johnson's also was the first Bluejay to do it while hitting better than .340 in the same match since Kelli Browning had 14 kills, 10 blocks and six digs on .357 hitting at Marquette on Oct. 4, 2014.
Pink Out Auction Returns
Creighton Volleyball will once again auction off its jerseys and warm-up tops that it will wear during its annual Pink Out match on Oct. 19 vs. Seton Hall.
The auction started last Thursday (Oct. 2) and will run through the evening of Oct. 12 at http://GoCreighton.com/pinkoutauction, with the money benefitting Hope Lodge Nebraska and the American Cancer Society.
Best Starts With A New Coach
Brian Rosen is the first coach since Creighton brought back volleyball in 1994 to win at least 11 of his first 16 matches.
Rosen is 11-5, just ahead of Howard Wallace (9-7), Kirsten Bernthal Booth (7-9) and Ben Guiliano (3-13).
Rosen is also the only coach in program history to win his or her first four conference matches.
Sokol Milestone Unlocked
Creighton owns a 201-34 record all-time inside D.J. Sokol Arena, as CU picked up its 200th home win in the facility on Sept. 26.
Creighton started 50-17 (.746) in the facility, which means it is 151-17 (.899) since then in its on-campus home.
Milestone Wins at D.J. Sokol Arena
W-L Opponent Date
1-0 Texas Tech (W 3-0) 8/28/09
50-17 Villanova (W 3-0) 11/24/13
100-25 DePaul (W 3-0) 11/5/17
150-31 #25 USC (W 3-1) 9/2/22
200-34 Xavier (W 3-0) 9/26/25
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 13th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 114-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (103-3 in the regular-season, 11-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 98-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes an 88-1 mark in league play and a 10-0 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 the fall of 2022, fourth-year Bluejay seniors Ava Martin and Sky McCune are 34-0 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 102-7 in sets.
Creighton has won 48 straight matches against BIG EAST opposition at home.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Creighton has won 66-of-67 sets at home against BIG EAST teams, dropping only the third set on Oct. 1, 2024 to Marquette. The Bluejays have won 34 straight sets at home over BIG EAST competition since then.
It's believed that each of the two longest BIG EAST regular-season win streaks in league play have been set by Notre Dame. The Irish won 45 in a row from Oct. 1, 1999 to Nov. 15, 2002, and also won 35 consecutive regular-season league matches from Sept. 30, 1995 to Oct. 4, 1998.
League Opener Histories
Creighton's 3-0 win vs. Xavier on Sept. 26 improved the Jays to 24-8 all-time in conference openers, and 1-0 under Brian Rosen. That includes an 12-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, with 12 straight wins.
Entering 2025, each of the previous 12 times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 195-13 (entering 2025) in regular-season league action. Creighton also won 11 conference tournament titles during those years, going 22-1 at the league tournament in those seasons.
In the 23 seasons (entering 2025) that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owned a combined .790 (324-86) winning percentage (entering 2025) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Bluejays have had a losing record on five occasions and owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton is 27-5 overall with 15 straight wins.
In league road openers, Creighton is 23-9 overall with 12 straight wins after this year's 3-0 win at Marquette.
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, which would seem to limit this year's league champion hopefuls to Creighton, Marquette, Xavier, Georgetown, DePaul and Villanova.
Wurtz On A Run
Standing at 6-foot-4, Nora Wurtz isn't your typical serving specialist, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been a tremendous weapon behind the service line.
Wurtz recently had a streak of 11 straight matches with an ace, tied for the ffith-longest streak in program history.
Wurtz's streak tied Julianne Mandolfo's 11 straight matches with an ace in 2010 for the longest ever by a Bluejay freshman.
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-Sept. 23, 2023
11 Kim Whitman, Sept. 5-Oct. 4, 1998
11 Molly Moran, Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 2000
11 Julianne Mandolfo, Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 2010
11 Nora Wurtz, Sept. 5-27, 2025
9 Melissa Weisensee, Sept. 1-20, 1995
9 Madelyn Cole, Aug. 31 - Sept. 21, 2018
9 Norah Sis, Sept. 17-Oct. 14, 2022
Don't Fret
The combination of losing four All-Americans off a 32-3 team, plus a grueling schedule featuring seven top-25 opponents in its 12 non-conference matches, helped Creighton start "just" 7-5 through 12 matches.
Each of the two previous times that Creighton has lost at least five of its first 12 matches, the Bluejays rebounded quite nicely.
In 2016 Creighton ended non-conference play with a 6-6 mark. That squad rebounded to win its next 23 matches and finished 29-7, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time.
The year before in 2015 Creighton finished the non-conference slate 5-7. That team won 22 of its next 23 matches, including a 17-1 mark in BIG EAST play, and qualified for the program's first Sweet 16 berth.
Attendance Update
Creighton ranks seventh nationally in total home attendance (33,915) and ninth in average fans per home match (4,239).
Creighton has led the BIG EAST in average home attendance in all but one non-COVID year since joining the league.
Creighton's 33,915 home fans this fall already rank fourth-most in program history, and there's still six home matches left on the docket.
The 4,239 fans per home match so far put CU on pace to shatter a program record.
Most Home Fans, Season
Rk. Fans Dates Year
1. 47,632 17 2018
2. 44,518 19 2024
3. 41,805 17 2022
4. 33,915 8 2025
5. 30,211 14 2021
Highest Home Attendance Average, Season
Average Rk. Fans Dates Year
1. 4,239 33,915 8 2025
2. 2,802 47,632 17 2018
3. 2,459 41,805 17 2022
4. 2,343 44,518 19 2024
5. 2,161 28,089 13 2023
Overwhelming The Unranked
Creighton is 9-0 this season against unranked teams, and the serve and pass game has been a major reason why.
In those seven matches (31 sets), CU has served 77 aces compared to 80 service errors. Its opponents have just 23 aces but made 80 serving miscues.
Fun With Numbers
- Creighton has not trailed by more than five points in any of its last 108 sets played against BIG EAST competition dating to a 17-10 deficit in the second set at Providence on Oct. 21, 2023 (Creighton won that set, 25-21).
- During Creighton's 39-match win streak over BIG EAST foes, the Bluejays have owned a hitting percentage advantage over its opponent of .098 or more in each match.
- Creighton has won the second set in 38 of its last 39 matches against BIG EAST opponents.
Report Card
Creighton is 192-16 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST matches.
Here's a report card of how CU has done in 50 match segments in the BIG EAST, which includes a 153-9 mark in its last 162 matches.
Matches W-L
1-50 43-7
51-100 48-2
101-150 46-4
151-200 47-3
201-208 8-0
Watch This!
Nine of Creighton's first 16 matches this fall have aired on television (four on FS1, three on BTN, two on Nebraska Public Media).
Creighton has also won 44 straight non-televised matches, since an Oct. 6, 2023 loss at Marquette.
Historically Speaking
Here's a look at the top indoor volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history after Creighton smashed a record on Sept. 16th at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Top Reg.-Season Indoor Volleyball-Only Crowds in NCAA History
Att. Opponent Date Site
17,675 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/16/25 Omaha, NE
17,037 Wisconsin def. Marquette, 3-1 9/13/23 Milwaukee, WI
16,833 Florida def. Wisconsin, 3-2 9/16/22 Madison, WI
15,797 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/7/22 Omaha, NE
15,734 Florida vs. Pittsburgh, 3-2 8/24/25 Lincoln, NE
15,734 Nebraska def. Stanford, 3-0
15,576 Nebraska def. Pittsburgh, 3-1 8/22/25 Lincoln, NE
15,576 Stanford vs. Florida, 3-1
15,084 Wisconsin def. Marquette, 3-1 9/17/24 Madison, WI
14,876 Wisconsin def. Purdue, 3-0 10/26/24 West Lafayette, IN
14,876 Purdue def. Indiana, 3-0 10/19/24 West Lafayette, IN
14,126 Nebraska def. Louisville, 3-0 9/22/24 Louisville, KY
14,035 Texas def. Wisconsin, 3-1 9/1/24 Milwaukee, WI
14,035 Stanford def. Minnesota, 3-2
14,022 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/6/18 Omaha, NE
13,870 UCLA def. Nebraska, 3-2 9/13/09 Lincoln, NE
13,412 Nebraska def. LSU, 3-0 9/12/08 Lincoln, NE
13,396 Nebraska def. Hawai'i, 3-0 10/21/07 Lincoln, NE
13,081 Cal Poly def. Creighton, 3-0 9/2/07 Omaha, NE
Nebraska def. Penn State, 3-0
13,071 Nebraska def. Maryland, 3-1 11/30/24 College Park, MD
12,760 Louisville def. Kentucky, 3-0 9/13/23 Louisville, KY
12,510 Pittsburgh def. Louisville, 3-1 11/27/24 Louisville, KY
12,504 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 11/4/00 Lincoln, NE
12,277 Wisocnsin def. Florida, 3-1 9/21/25 Madison, WI
12,112 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-1 9/24/06 Omaha, NE
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
Sept. 16th marked the fourth time in eight matches at CHI Health Center Omaha that Creighton broke an all-time NCAA's attendance record.
In 2007 CU played in front of 13,081 in a match against Cal Poly that was part of a doubleheader. In 2018 CU met Nebraska before 14,022 fans. In 2022, CU welcomed 15,797 fans against Nebraska. And on Sept. 16 the crowd was 17,675.
Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history, which includes four crowds of 10,000 or more this fall.
Creighton's Largest Home Crowds All-Time
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
17,675 #1 Nebraska 09/16/25 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
15,797 #2 Nebraska 09/07/22 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
14,022 #7 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.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
2,665 Ole Miss 12/06/24 W 3-0 Sokol
2,658 #4 Louisville 09/12/25 L 1-3 Sokol
2,653 Auburn 12/02/22 L 2-3 Sokol
Creighton Volleyball's Largest Crowds (All Sites)
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
17,675 #1 Nebraska 09/16/25 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
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.
11,678 vs. #14 Kansas 08/31/25 W 3-2 Kohl Center
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,438 vs. #2 Penn St. 08/23/25 L 0-3 Pinn Bank Arena
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,072 vs. #5 Texas 08/29/25 L 0-3 Kohl Center
8,924 at #5 Nebraska 09/06/23 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,656 at #4 Nebraska 09/10/24 L 2-3 Devaney 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.
The Friendly Confines
Creighton had its first unbeaten home season in program history in 2023, going a perfect 13-0 in matches and 39-3 in sets.
Last year CU did even better, going 19-0 and losing just two sets at home.
Though its 32-match win streak was snapped on Sept. 12 against No. 4 Louisville, that still means the Bluejays are 38-1 in its last 39 contests at D.J. Sokol Arena.
All told, Creighton has won 108 of its last 113 home sets at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
32 Sept. 1, 2023 - Dec. 6, 2024 #4 Louisville, 3-1
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
Creighton Introduces New Taraflex Court
Creighton Volleyball introduced a new Taraflex® court at its 2025 regular-season home debut on Sept. 12 against Louisville.
The court was designed by GLGR out of Portland, Ore., in working with Specialty Floors out of Parkville, Mo., representatives of Taraflex Sports.
The new court features a royal blue outline with a feather pattern similar to what is on the Creighton men's basketball court that was unveiled last October at CHI Health Center Omaha. More than 6/10ths of a mile of stencils were used to create the blue feather border that features more than a dozen "Easter eggs" hidden throughout.
The words Creighton and Bluejays flank the end lines in white lettering. The East sideline features the words D.J. Sokol Arena on one side of the court and a BIG EAST Conference logo on the other, both shaded in light blue. The Northeast side of the court, where the team runs in and out when returning to or from the locker room, features the words "Fly Together", while Creighton's popular C-Bird logo adorns the Northwest and Southeast corners of the court
The West sideline features 14 smaller Bluejay bird outlines, seven on each side of the court. Inside those logo decals are years to designate NCAA Tournament appearances, with different colors used to highlight the program's previous trips to the first weekend, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Room to add future postseason appearances is available, if necessary.
The middle of the court features a gray outline of a Bluejay bird head. The hue of the two-tone court helps put the focus on the action and will make the players in uniform stand out, in addition to making it easier for officials to discern in/out calls along the sidelines. The matte finish on the court adds to the sharpness.
The perimeter of the court features no less than 14 hidden messages within the design, ranging from Heritage logos to honor Creighton's history, a map of the state of Nebraska, the year Creighton University was founded (1878), the year the Creighton Volleyball program was restarted (1994), and donor acknowledgements.
The court is a FIVB-certified playing surface and is up to the same high standards that it used in international competitions such as the Olympics. The design process for one of the most unique and complex designed courts in the world began in January, with the full painting process taking a little over a month in application and curing.
The Amazing Ava
Ava Martin had a career-high 24 kills vs. UC Santa Barbara, then added 20 on Sept. 13 vs. Rice in just three sets.
Martin now owns nine matches with 20+ kills in her career, and she's done it against some impressive competition.
Ava Martin's 20-Kill Matches
Kills Pct. Opponent Date
24 .286 vs. UC Santa Barbara 09/06/25
22 .333 #14 Marquette 11/26/22
22 .396 Northern Iowa 09/03/23
22 .180 at #9 Minnesota 09/16/23
21 .230 at Xavier 09/23/23
20 .400 at DePaul 11/22/24
20 .405 vs. Duke 08/27/23
20 .472 Rice 09/13/25
20 .514 at Marquette 10/02/25
Against Ranked Foes
After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last 11 seasons (2015-25).
Creighton is 32-94 all-time against ranked teams, with 30 wins coming under Kirsten Bernthal Booth and two under Brian Rosen.
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.
This year is the ninth season that CU owned multiple Top-25 victories. The Jays beat three Top 25 teams in 2017, 2022 and 2023, and a record four in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Top 25 Sweeps
Creighton owns 32 top 25 victories in its history, but its Sept. 21 sweep of Kansas was just its ninth sweep of a ranked foe.
Three of those wins have come against Kansas, another three against Kentucky, two vs. Marquette and one at Purdue.
Creighton's 3-0 Wins vs. Top 25 Teams
Opponent Date
vs. #10 Kentucky 09/05/15
#13 Kentucky 09/01/17
at #7 Kansas 09/09/17
#21 Marquette 09/23/18
at #3 Kentucky 09/04/21
at #16 Purdue 08/26/23
#25 Marquette 11/05/23
at #10 Kansas 09/21/24
#17 Kansas 09/21/25
Top 25 History
Creighton is 244-53 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 27-33 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark is 4-4 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 48 of Creighton's 82 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 323-34 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 127 home matches over unranked teams and all but 13 of its last 184 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 27-33)
Home: 11-11 Away: 8-13 Neutral: 8-9
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
11/05/23 #17 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-0
12/07/23 #7 Louisville #17 Creighton 2-3
09/05/24 #11 Creighton #20 USC 3-1
09/10/24 #5 Nebraska #9 Creighton 2-3
09/15/24 #4 Louisville #9 Creighton 2-3
09/20/24 #9 Creighton #6 Purdue 3-1
09/21/24 #9 Creighton #10 Kansas 3-0
12/13/24 #6 Creighton #13 Texas 3-1
12/15/24 #2 Penn State #6 Creighton 2-3
08/23/25 #2 Penn State #12 Creighton 0-3
08/29/25 #5 Texas #12 Creighton 0-3
08/31/25 #12 Creighton #14 Kansas 3-2
09/07/25 #22 USC #13 Creighton 0-3
09/12/25 #4 Louisville #18 Creighton 1-3
09/16/25 #1 Nebraska #18 Creighton 2-3
09/21/25 #18 Creighton #17 Kansas 3-0
The Defense Never Rests
Creighton has led the country in opponents hitting percentage in two of the last four seasons, doing so in both 2021 (.124) and 2024 (.130).
Creighton is holding foes to .182 this year, a figure that plummets to .120 in league action.
High FIve
Brian Rosen is Creighton's first volleyball coach since the program's 1994 reinstatement to pick up his first victory in a five set match, as Ben Guiliano, Howard Wallace and Kirsten Bernthal Booth's first wins all came in 3-0 sweeps.
Record in 5-Set Matches
Coach Years Set 5 W-L
Ben Guiliano 1994-1996 2-10
Howard Wallace 1997-2002 13-18
Kirsten Bernthal Booth 2003-2024 70-42
Brian Rosen 2025-Pres. 2-1
Twice For Breissinger
Junior defensive specialist Sydney Breissinger helped Creighton erase a 3-0 deficit in the fifth set on Aug. 31 vs. Kansas, serving up a 9-0 run that helped the Bluejays take the lead for good. She also served a 9-0 run in the fourth set vs. San Diego on Sept. 5.
Breissinger's heroics were eerily similar to the 9-0 serving run she had in the fifth set on Sept. 16, 2023 in a win over No. 9 Minnesota. That win over the Gophers had been CU's last previous five-set win.
Since enrolling at Creighton in 2023, Breissinger owns 39 service runs of five or longer, 10 more than the next-closest Bluejay (Norah Sis, who graduated in 2024). Next-most among her active teammates is the 21 by Ava Martin.
146 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked 13th in the Oct. 6 edition of the AVCA poll, the 146th time in program history it's been ranked. That's 38th-most of all programs in NCAA history.
All 146 rankings have occurred since 2012.
The Bluejays are one of 11 schools (along with Baylor, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 69 polls.
Creighton's 69 weeks in a row being ranked dates began on Sept. 6, 2021 and sets a program-record, breaking the previous-high of 64 from Oct. 31, 2016 to March 15, 2021.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 12th in the AVCA preseason poll on Aug. 7th. It was the 11th time in the past 13 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason, and fourth year in a row.
The No. 12 slotting tied last year's team for the second-best preseason ranking in program history, trailing only the 2017 team that was ranked ninth.
Over the previous 17 seasons, 315-of-425 teams (74.1 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and in the 17 seasons from 2008-2024, 385-of-425 teams (90.6 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but preseason No. 19 Arkansas and No. 25 Georgia reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 14th 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 29-5 15th
2024 12th 32-3 5th
2025 12th TBD TBD
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-19 letterwinners to the court from last season, including three starters.
From last year's team, Norah Sis, Elise Goetzinger, Kendra Wait, Abbey Milner, Maddy Bilinovic, Audrey Clark, Katie Maser and Emma Ziegler are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 294.5 of a possible 700% back (42.1 percent), the smallest amount returning since it headed into Howard Wallace's final season in 2002.
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 119 (7.6%) 1,450 (92.4%)
Aces 115 (51.3%) 109 (48.7%)
Digs 598 (35.7%) 1,076 (64.3%)
Points 1,115.5 (50.2%) 1,107.0 (49.8%)
Kills 843 (50.1%) 841 (49.9%)
Matches Started 104 (49.5%) 106 (50.5%)
Blocks 157.5 (50.1%) 157.0 (49.9%)
One Tough Schedule
Of Creighton's 12 non-conference matches, seven were against ranked teams and three others against programs that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.
Creighton is the only team in the preseason Top 25 with 10 or more non-conference matches against teams getting votes, as Texas and TCU are next-closest with eight each.
No Losers Here
Creighton has been as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
Creighton and Pittsburgh are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 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, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons are also Creighton and Pittsburgh.
Creighton is also the only school nationally who have won 25 matches or more in every season between 2014-24 (not counting the 2020 COVID-19 year, when CU only played 16 times).
13 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 13 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 13 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make even 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of seven teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments (2012-24). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas.
There are also 12 schools that have appeared in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue, Stanford and Washington. Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, and Texas have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
Survival of the Fittest
Since the move to rally scoring in 2001, Creighton has won 10 matches when surviving a match point and lost four contests when holding a match point of its own.
Surviving Match Points Since 2001
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
09/27/02 Evansville 13-14, 14-15 19-17
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
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played multiple matches in 29 tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won 19 of them.
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).
CU's Multi-Match Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
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)
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)
2023 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2023 NCAA Tournament 2-1 (T-9th)
2024 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2024 Creighton Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 Cardinal Classic 2-1 (2nd)
2024 Jayhawk Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2024 NCAA Tournament 3-1 (T-5th)
2025 Opening Spike Classic 1-1 (T-2nd)
2025 Trojan Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2025 Bluejay Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2025 Creighton Classic 2-0 (1st)
Jays Earn Tourney Titles
Creighton has won at least one tournament each of the last 14 seasons, a streak that dates to 2012.
During that span, the Bluejays have won 36 tournament titles, not to mention 12 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton has also now won at least one home tournament each of the last nine seasons.
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 5 Purdue, CU, UNO, MINN, BIG EAST
2024 4 CU, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2025 1 CU
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 428-11 (.975) all-time when leading a match 2-0, and 155-1 (.994) 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 94.9 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Creighton has won 115 matches in a row when taking a 2-0 lead.
Conversely, the Jays are 17-211 (.075) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. 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 has gone 171-6 in its last 177 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 18-26 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 203-4 (.981) in its last 207 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set won just 20.3 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 173-6 in its last 179 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only to Pacific (Sept. 12, 2015), No. 7 Nebraska (Sept. 6, 2018), South Dakota (Jan. 29, 2021), No. 16 Kentucky (Sept. 3, 2022), Auburn (Dec. 2, 2022) and No. 4 Louisville (Sept. 12, 2025).
The Jays have won their last 37 of their last 38 home matches following a first set victory.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team will play 10 matches against teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament with contests against Marquette (2x), Nebraska, Kansas (2x), Louisville, Northern Iowa, USC, Texas and Penn State.
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 11-3
2024 9-3
2025 4-5 so far
TOTAL 120-150
TOTAL Before Booth 3-35
TOTAL Under Booth 113-110
TOTAL Under Rosen 4-5
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | GU NOTES |
Match #18: #13 Creighton at Villanova • Villanova, Pa. • Saturday, Oct. 11 • 6:00 p.m. CST
| LIVE VIDEO ($) | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | VU NOTES |
Next Up
No. 13 Creighton Volleyball (11-5, 4-0 BIG EAST) looks to extend its six-match winning streak with its first of three trips to the East Coast this season.
The Bluejays start their weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. Central with a match against Georgetown (10-7, 3-1 BIG EAST) in Washington, D.C., inside McDonough Arena.
Twenty-four hours later, the Bluejays meet Villanova (12-3, 3-1 BIG EAST) at 6 p.m. Central. That contest will take place inside Jake Nevin Field House in Villanova, Pa.
Broadcast Information
Both of Creighton's matches this weekend will air on ESPN+. A subscription is required to view the matches on http://watchESPN.com.
Live Stats Information
Both of this weekend's matches will have live stats at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
Scouting #13 Creighton
Creighton is 11-5 this season and 4-0 in the BIG EAST after dropping just one set in league play thus far. The Bluejays played seven matches against ranked foes in non-conference action, winning two of them, and are 9-0 against unranked foes.
Creighton has won eight of its last nine matches, with a five-set loss to No. 1 Nebraska the only setback in that time, to climb to No. 13 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll.
Ava Martin (4.07 kps.,0.44 saps.) was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, while fellow senior Kiara Reinhardt (2.47 kps., .428%, 1.16 bps.) is also playing at an All-American level. The seniors were named BIG EAST Offensive, and Defensive, Players of the Week respectively, on Monday.
Annalea Maeder (10.14 aps.) has taken the reigns as CU setter, while Saige Damrow (3.40 dps.) and Sydney Breissinger (2.28 dps.) have both seen time at libero.
CU averages 13.40 kills, 1.93 aces, 14.12 digs and 2.41 blocks per set while hitting .243.
Scouting Georgetown
Georgetown is 10-7 this season, including a 3-1 start to league play. Since a 1-5 start, the Hoyas are 9-2, with the only two setbacks in that streak being five-set losses to Clemson and Xavier.
Dionna Mitchell (3.07 kps.) and Samantha Soderlund (2.74 kps.) lead an offense featuring five women who average at least 1.80 kills per set, giving setters Juleigh Urbina (6.14 aps., 0.46 saps.) and Natalie Nguyen (4.57 aps.) plenty of options to find.
The Hoyas average 12.29 kills, 12.81 digs, 2.00 blocks and 1.90 aces per set on .228 hitting as a team.
Series History vs. Georgetown
Creighton is 22-0 all-time against Georgetown, dropping just seven sets in those contests. It's Creighton's most meetings against any opponent without a loss.
In 2015, Creighton lost the first two sets before ultimately saving two match points in a 3-2 road victory. In 2017 Creighton trailed 2-1 in the match before pulling out a 15-13 win in the fifth set after it trailed in the last set by scores of 5-0 and 13-12.
Creighton has won 23 straight sets against GU in Washington, D.C., and 26 straight sets against the Hoyas at all sites.
Creighton trailed for a total of two points en route to a pair of sweeps over the Hoyas last season.
Brian Rosen is 20-0 against Georgetown and 0-0 against AJ Bonetti, while Bonetti is 0-4 all-time against Creighton.
Scouting Villanova
Villanova is 12-3 this season and 3-1 in BIG EAST play after Saturday's five-set home loss to Xavier.
Abby Harrell (3.76 kps., .282%, 2.73 dps.) leads the team in kills and Campbell McKinnon (3.13 kps., .439%, 1.02 bps.) has emerged as one of the top players in the BIG EAST.
Alyssa Nelson (5.98 aps.) and Ava Harris (5.56 aps.) share setting duties and Reagan McGivern (1.03 bps.) leads the way in blocks.
The Wildcats average 14.19 kills, 13.19 digs, 2.12 blocks and 1.47 aces per set and hit .287 as a team.
Series History vs. Villanova
Creighton is 22-3 all-time vs. Villanova, and has swept each of the last eight meetings since a Wildcat victory on Nov. 8, 2019.
CU is 13-0 in Omaha against the Wildcats, and won the last 23 sets played vs. VU at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Brian Rosen is 0-0 all-time against Villanova and coach Josh Steinbach, while Steinbach is 3-22 all-time against Creighton.
Creighton Coaches
Brian Rosen was named the fourth head coach in modern Creighton Volleyball history on April 6, 2025, as he was promoted following the departure of 22-year head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. He is 11-5 as Creighton head coach, defeating No. 14 Kansas on Aug. 31 for his first win on the Bluejay sideline.
Named the 2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Rosen served as a Creighton assistant from 2022-24, during which time CU went 88-13, swept the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament tiles each fall, and defeated 10 Top 25 opponents.
The 2008 South Carolina grad went 45-17 as head coach at Division II Nova Southeastern from 2019-21, though the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19 without playing a match.
Rosen is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Adam Kessenich and Izzy Ashburn.
With A Win...
With a win on Friday at Georgetown, Creighton would...
- Extend a program record by winning its 36th consecutive regular-season conference match, and 40th in a row against BIG EAST teams.
- Win its 54th straight match against an unranked team.
- Win its 45th straight non-televised match.
- Creighton would improve to 23-0 all-time against Georgetown, its most wins against any school without a loss.
- Creighton would improve to 193-16 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST matches, and 90-13 in BIG EAST road contests.
- Creighton would improve to 214-18 against BIG EAST opponents since joining the league in 2013.
- Extend its season-high win streak to seven, and its October win streak to 18.
Milestone Watch
Creighton's student-athletes are approaching all sorts of milestones heading into the week...
- Creighton would win its 100th match with Brian Rosen on the sideline. He's currently 99-18 after going 88-13 as an assistant and 11-5 as a head coach.
- Similarly, Ava Martin has played in 98 victories since arriving at Creighton in 2022 (she DNP in a 2022 win vs. Seton Hall).
- Destiny Ndam-Simpson is one kill shy of 250.
- Kiara Reinhardt is 15 blocks short of 500 and 29 kills short of 700 in her career.
- Annalea Maeder owns 959 career digs (150 at Creighton) and is 41 shy of 1,000 in her career.
- Annalea Maeder is seven aces shy of 150 in her career.
Senior Duo Honored by BIG EAST Again
A 2-0 week helped a pair of Creighton seniors earn recognition from the BIG EAST Conference on Monday, as Ava Martin and Kiara Reinhardt were named Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively.
Martin averaged 5.93 points, 4.86 kills, 2.43 digs, 0.86 aces and 0.43 blocks per set while hitting .435. The points and kills per set led all BIG EAST players while her aces per set were third-best and hitting percentage was seventh-most.
This is the sixth time in Martin's career she's been named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, joining a pair of honors in both 2023 (Aug. 28 & Sept. 18) and 2024 (Nov. 4 & Nov. 25), as well as Sept. 22, 2025 earlier this fall. The Overland Park, Kan., native's six career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week citations is tied for second-most in CU history with Jaela Zimmerman and trails only Norah Sis' nine from 2021-24.
Reinhardt averaged 2.86 kills, 1.29 blocks and 1.00 assists per set on league-best .643 hitting. Reinhardt's second straight recognition gives her seven career BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week accolades. She also earned honors once each in 2021 and 2023, and three times in 2024. In CU history, only two-time Libero of the Year Brittany Witt (with 8) has been recognized more by the BIG EAST as Defensive Player of the Week.
So Far, So Good
Creighton is 22-0 all-time against Georgetown, its most meetings against any foe without a loss.
Here's those leaders since CU resumed volleyball in 1994:
Most Meetings Without a Creighton Loss
W-L Opponent Sets Lost by CU
22 Georgetown 7
17 Providence 1
5 Omaha 2
5 Tulsa 2
Reinhardt Passes Century Mark; Martin Next?
Kiara Reinhardt has played in 107 victories as a Bluejay, becoming the 13th woman to reach the century mark.
Creighton is 107-22 (.829) all-time in the matches Reinhardt has appeared in (they're 35-4 in matches she doesn't play in, including her redshirt year). Her current .829 win percentage ranks fourth-best in program history among those with 100 or more victories.
Ava Martin is 98-18 (.845) and looks to join this group this weekend.
Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
119 Kendra Wait 2021-24
116 Naomi Hickman 2017-21
111 Jaali Winters 2015-18
110 Kiana Schmitt 2019-23
109 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
109 Brittany Witt 2016-19
109 Norah Sis 2021-24
107 Megan Ballenger 2016-19
107 Kiara Reinhardt 2020-Pres.
106 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
104 Lauren Smith 2013-16
102 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
101 Ashley Jansen 2012-15
98 Jaela Zimmerman 2018-22
98 Ava Martin 2022-Pres.
Best Win Pct. in Matches Appeared In As A Player (min. 100 wins)
W-L Pct. Name Years
109-14 .886 Norah Sis 2021-24
119-16 .881 Kendra Wait 2021-24
110-16 .873 Kiana Schmitt 2019-23
105-22 .827 Kiara Reinhardt 2020-Pres.
109-24 .820 Taryn Kloth 2015-18
116-26 .817 Naomi Hickman 2017-21
109-25 .813 Brittany Witt 2016-19
107-25 .811 Megan Ballenger 2016-19
111-28 .799 Jaali Winters 2015-18
106-32 .768 Marysa Wilkinson 2014-17
102-31 .767 Melanie Jereb 2012-15
101-31 .765 Ashley Jansen 2012-15
104-34 .754 Lauren Smith 2013-16
Most Wins, Four-Year Span
W-L Years
119-17 2021-24
111-28 2015-18
109-25 2016-19
107-32 2014-17
104-31 2012-15
104-34 2013-16
99-18 2020-23
99-18 2022-Pres.
97-19 2018-21
95-19 2019-22
The Gauntlet Continues
After playing the nation's third-toughest non-conference schedules, including seven Top 25 opponents, Creighton has already faced some of the best teams the BIG EAST has to offer.
As it looks to face a pair of 3-1 teams that are tied for second in the BIG EAST, it's also worth noting that the Bluejays have already handed Marquette (3-1) and Xavier (3-1) their only league losses to date.
Best League Starts
Creighton has started 4-0 in conference play for the ninth time in 13 seasons in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays have started 11-0 or better in league action six times in the previous 10 years and went 18-0 in 2016, 2018 and 2024.
Most Wins Before First League Loss
Wins Year (League) First League Loss
18-0 2018 (BIG EAST) None
18-0 2016 (BIG EAST) None
18-0 2024 (BIG EAST) None
17 2022 (BIG EAST) 11/19 at #16 Marquette
12 2019 (BIG EAST) 11/8 at Villanova
11 2015 (BIG EAST) 10/30 at Villanova
7 2007 (MVC) 10/12 vs. Wichita State
5 2014 (BIG EAST) 10/10 at Seton Hall
5 2011 (MVC) 10/7 at Missouri State
5 2006 (MVC) 10/6 vs. Northern Iowa
4 2017 (BIG EAST) 10/5 at Marquette
4 2025 (BIG EAST) TBD
Fun Facts
Villanova coach Josh Steinbach is 3-22 all-time against Creighton, but those three wins put him in select company.
Of the 20 different opponents on Creighton's 2025 schedule, Steinbach is one of three head coaches who has beaten CU three times or more at their current school.
Steinbach is joined by St. John's Joanne Persico (3-21) and Northern Iowa's Bobbi Petersen (29-17).
The only other head coaches on Creighton's 2025 schedule with multiple wins over the Bluejays are Texas' Jerritt Elliott (2-1) and Penn State's Katie Schumacher-Cawley (2-0).
Nice Work, Ace
Creighton tied a program-record with 15 service aces on Saturday vs. DePaul, with Ava Martin (6), Alivia Hausmann (3), Jaya Johnson (3), Sydney Breissinger (2) and Annalea Maeder (1) all getting in the act.
Saturday was the fourth time in program history that CU has recorded 15 aces or more, and first time it's done so in a true road match.
Creighton set a school-record with 224 aces in 35 matches last season (6.40 per match) and averaged a whopping 2.32 aces per set in league play. This year's team has 110 aces in 16 matches (6.88 per match) and is averaging 2.69 aces per set in league action.
Most Creighton Service Aces, Match
15 vs. Northeastern Illinois (3s) 09-23-95
15 vs. UMKC (4s) 11-12-95
15 vs. Seton Hall (3s) 11-15-24
15 at DePaul (4s) 10-04-25
14 at UMKC (4s) 10-30-94
14 vs. UNC-Greensboro (4s) 09-02-00
14 vs. Butler (3s) 10-20-18
14 vs. DePaul (4s) 11-24-19
14 vs. UMKC (5s) 09-28-04
Golden Eagle Avalanche
Creighton hit a season-best .410 in last Thursday's 3-0 win at Marquette, becoming the first BIG EAST team to sweep the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee since 2015.
The .410 hitting percentage was CU's best mark ever against Marquette, as seen below:
CU's Best Hitting Percentage vs. Marquette
Pct. Opponent (K-E-TA) Date
.410 at Marquette (50-9-100) 10/02/25
.387 Marquette (54-11-111) 11/05/23
.356 at Marquette (58-10-135) 11/10/24
.356 at Marquette (57-15-110 10/11/15
A Smashing Success
Kiara Reinhardt had 14 kills and one error in 18 swings on Oct. 4 at DePaul, the second-best mark in program history for a four-set match.
The only performance that's been better was Reinhardt's .789 hitting (15-0-19) vs. San Diego earlier this year on Sept. 5, 2025.
Best Hitting Percentage, Four Sets (min. 12 kills)
.789 Kiara Reinhardt (15-0-19) vs. San Diego 09-05-25
.722 Kiara Reinhardt (14-1-18) at DePaul 10-04-25
.684 Kelli Browning (14-1-19) vs. Southern Illinois 10-27-12
.640 Naomi Hickman (17-1-25) vs. Kentucky 09-06-19
.636 Megan Bober (14-0-22) vs. Bradley 10-06-12
.625 Kelly Goc (26-1-40) vs. Drake 11-16-07
.615 Alicia Runge (17-1-26) vs. Bradley 09-25-10
.600 Kelli Browning (16-1-25) vs. Wisconsin 08-25-12
Jaya Does It All
Since moving into a role that has her playing all six rotations, sophomore Jaya Johnson has played like an All-American.
Johnson has averaged 3.00 kills, 2.21 digs, 1.26 blocks and 0.21 aces per set while hitting .296. Creighton is 6-0 in that time, dropping just one set.
Before the move, Johnson averaged 1.84 kills, 0.74 digs, 0.92 blocks and 0.00 aces per set while hitting .191. Creighton was 5-5 in those matches (18-18 in sets), though six of them came against top-25 foes.
Opening RPI
The first NCAA Volleyball RPI of the fall was released on October 6th and Creighton came in at No. 8, easily the best mark in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays are one of five BIG EAST teams in the top 61, joining Marquette (34), Xavier (45), Connecticut (58) and Villanova (61).
Friday's foe, Georgetown, is 149th, a 62 spot improvement over last year's year-end 211 finish.
That's Just Wild
Creighton has won 28 straight sets against Georgetown and 24 straight sets against Villanova. Both rank among the longest set win streaks over another foe in program history.
Both are still far behind an active 56-set win streak the Jays own against Seton Hall..
Most Consecutive Set Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
56 Seton Hall 2015-Present
32 Providence 2017-Present
28 Georgetown 2019-Present
25 Indiana State 2005-09
24 Xavier 2015-18
24 Villanova 2021-Present
23 Indiana State 2009-Present
19 Providence 2014-17
19 Butler 2018-21
19 Butler 2021-Present
CU Has Been Destroya The Hoya
Creighton has won 22 straight matches against Georgetown, its fourth-longest win streak ever against another foe. A win on Friday would tie it for the second-longest ever.
Most Consecutive Match Wins Over One Team
Wins Opponent Dates
28 DePaul 2013-Present
23 Xavier 2013-22
23 Butler 2013-Present
22 Georgetown 2013-Present
19 Southern Illinois 2003-11
19 Seton Hall 2014-Present
17 Providence 2014-Present
16 Indiana State 2005-Present
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.
Creighton owns 11 regular-season titles (3 shared) in that time, while Marquette owns four regular-season (3 shared) crowns.
As it relates to BIG EAST Tournament titles, Creighton has won 10, Marquette one and St. John's one since 2013.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Oct. 8, 2025
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (12) 192 16 326 78
Marquette (11) 172 33 293 98
Xavier 119 87 193 172
St. John's (1) 105 103 227 173
Butler 103 105 185 186
Villanova (1) 103 105 200 166
Seton Hall (1) 86 121 173 195
DePaul 67 141 158 207
Georgetown 47 153 121 228
Connecticut# 44 40 92 65
Providence* 31 161 122 216
*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 winning percentage better than .800 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 213 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 34 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 (6), 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 23-1 - 23-1
Connecticut 4-1 1-0 5-1
DePaul 25-0 3-0 28-0
Georgetown 22-0 - 22-0
Marquette 20-5 7-1 27-6
Providence 17-0 - 17-0
Seton Hall 19-3 2-0 21-3
St. John's 20-2 1-1 21-3
Villanova 19-3 3-0 22-3
Xavier 23-1 4-0 27-1
TOTAL 192-16 21-2 213-18
Putting The 0 In October And November
Creighton is 83-6 in the 10th month of the year since Oct. 1, 2016, including 17 straight wins, and victories in 31 of its past 32 such matches.
Creighton's been awfully good in the month of November too. Since Nov. 1, 2014, CU is 71-4 in the 11th month of the year with 20 straight victories.
Creighton has won 43 straight October home matches (since 10/15/11) and 44 consecutive home matches in November (since 11/23/14). Incredibly, Creighton is 132-10 in sets in those home November contests.
All They Do Is Win
Creighton has won its last 35 BIG EAST regular-season matches to establish a program record.
The 35 straight regular-season league wins is tied with Notre Dame (Sept. 30, 1995 to Oct. 4, 1998) for the second-longest streak in BIG EAST history, and trails only the 45 in a row from Oct. 1, 1999 to Nov. 15, 2002 by the Irish.
Creighton's Most Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
Wins Dates Snapped By League
35 Oct. 7, 2023 - Present ? ? ? BIG EAST
31 Nov. 18, 2017 - Nov. 3, 2019 at Villanova, 3-0 BIG EAST
28 Oct. 31, 2015 - Sept. 30, 2017 at Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
28 Oct. 17, 2021- Nov. 18, 2022 at #16 Marquette, 3-0 BIG EAST
14 Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012 Never (left MVC) MVC
Streaking In League Play
Add in conference tournament play and Creighton has won 39 straight matches against BIG EAST teams. In its 39 matches against BIG EAST schools since October 7, 2023, Creighton is 39-0 and has dropped just five sets to league opponents.
Though impressive, there's still two teams with longer active streaks against league foes (through Oct. 7).
Wins Team Current League
46 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley
44 Western Kentucky Conference-USA
39 Creighton BIG EAST
19 Arizona State Big 12
11 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Regular-season champions from 2014-24, Creighton is the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win 11 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 more than five straight league titles, more than doubling the previous high of five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96) in the MVC.
The only other volleyball team nationally with an active streak of more than five straight regular-season league titles is Kentucky, with eight.
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 12 conference regular-season titles. All but three of Creighton's 12 crowns were outright titles, whereas WKU has shared five. Texas has won 11 titles in that time.
Creighton has also won 11 conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2024
Regular-Season League Tournament
12 (3 shared) Creighton 11 Creighton
12 (5) Western Kentucky 10 Western Kentucky
11 (1) Texas 9 Dayton
11 (1) Fairfield 9 Fairfield
9 (8) Florida A&M
9 (5) Yale
9 (1) Colorado State
Kiara Got Her Block Back
Kiara Reinhardt led the BIG EAST and ranked 10th nationally with 1.48 blocks per set last season, a figure that climbed to 1.58 blocks per set against BIG EAST foes.
Reinhardt averages 1.92 blocks per set in league play this year, far above the next-closest player (PC's Lyric Berry, 1.40 bps.).
Reinhardt's 485 career blocks rank fifth-most in CU history and are just four behind Naomi Hickman (2017-21) for fourth in program history.
Johnson's Incredible Line
Jaya Johnson had 10 kills to go with six blocks and six digs in CU's Sept. 27 win against Butler.
She's the first Bluejay with at least 10 kills, six blocks and six digs in a match since Norah Sis had 22 kills, nine blocks and eight digs vs. DePaul on Oct. 16, 2022.
Johnson's also was the first Bluejay to do it while hitting better than .340 in the same match since Kelli Browning had 14 kills, 10 blocks and six digs on .357 hitting at Marquette on Oct. 4, 2014.
Pink Out Auction Returns
Creighton Volleyball will once again auction off its jerseys and warm-up tops that it will wear during its annual Pink Out match on Oct. 19 vs. Seton Hall.
The auction started last Thursday (Oct. 2) and will run through the evening of Oct. 12 at http://GoCreighton.com/pinkoutauction, with the money benefitting Hope Lodge Nebraska and the American Cancer Society.
Best Starts With A New Coach
Brian Rosen is the first coach since Creighton brought back volleyball in 1994 to win at least 11 of his first 16 matches.
Rosen is 11-5, just ahead of Howard Wallace (9-7), Kirsten Bernthal Booth (7-9) and Ben Guiliano (3-13).
Rosen is also the only coach in program history to win his or her first four conference matches.
Sokol Milestone Unlocked
Creighton owns a 201-34 record all-time inside D.J. Sokol Arena, as CU picked up its 200th home win in the facility on Sept. 26.
Creighton started 50-17 (.746) in the facility, which means it is 151-17 (.899) since then in its on-campus home.
Milestone Wins at D.J. Sokol Arena
W-L Opponent Date
1-0 Texas Tech (W 3-0) 8/28/09
50-17 Villanova (W 3-0) 11/24/13
100-25 DePaul (W 3-0) 11/5/17
150-31 #25 USC (W 3-1) 9/2/22
200-34 Xavier (W 3-0) 9/26/25
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is in its 13th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 114-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (103-3 in the regular-season, 11-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 98-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes an 88-1 mark in league play and a 10-0 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 the fall of 2022, fourth-year Bluejay seniors Ava Martin and Sky McCune are 34-0 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 102-7 in sets.
Creighton has won 48 straight matches against BIG EAST opposition at home.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Creighton has won 66-of-67 sets at home against BIG EAST teams, dropping only the third set on Oct. 1, 2024 to Marquette. The Bluejays have won 34 straight sets at home over BIG EAST competition since then.
It's believed that each of the two longest BIG EAST regular-season win streaks in league play have been set by Notre Dame. The Irish won 45 in a row from Oct. 1, 1999 to Nov. 15, 2002, and also won 35 consecutive regular-season league matches from Sept. 30, 1995 to Oct. 4, 1998.
League Opener Histories
Creighton's 3-0 win vs. Xavier on Sept. 26 improved the Jays to 24-8 all-time in conference openers, and 1-0 under Brian Rosen. That includes an 12-1 mark in BIG EAST lid-lifters, with 12 straight wins.
Entering 2025, each of the previous 12 times that Creighton won its league opener (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), the Bluejays went on to win the regular-season title, going a combined 195-13 (entering 2025) in regular-season league action. Creighton also won 11 conference tournament titles during those years, going 22-1 at the league tournament in those seasons.
In the 23 seasons (entering 2025) that Creighton has won its conference opener, it has never finished worse than .500 in league play and it owned a combined .790 (324-86) winning percentage (entering 2025) in league matches.
In the eight years in which Creighton lost its league opener, the Bluejays have had a losing record on five occasions and owns a combined .363 (53-93) winning percentage during league contests.
In conference home openers, Creighton is 27-5 overall with 15 straight wins.
In league road openers, Creighton is 23-9 overall with 12 straight wins after this year's 3-0 win at Marquette.
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, which would seem to limit this year's league champion hopefuls to Creighton, Marquette, Xavier, Georgetown, DePaul and Villanova.
Wurtz On A Run
Standing at 6-foot-4, Nora Wurtz isn't your typical serving specialist, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been a tremendous weapon behind the service line.
Wurtz recently had a streak of 11 straight matches with an ace, tied for the ffith-longest streak in program history.
Wurtz's streak tied Julianne Mandolfo's 11 straight matches with an ace in 2010 for the longest ever by a Bluejay freshman.
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-Sept. 23, 2023
11 Kim Whitman, Sept. 5-Oct. 4, 1998
11 Molly Moran, Oct. 7-Nov. 10, 2000
11 Julianne Mandolfo, Oct. 2-Nov. 13, 2010
11 Nora Wurtz, Sept. 5-27, 2025
9 Melissa Weisensee, Sept. 1-20, 1995
9 Madelyn Cole, Aug. 31 - Sept. 21, 2018
9 Norah Sis, Sept. 17-Oct. 14, 2022
Don't Fret
The combination of losing four All-Americans off a 32-3 team, plus a grueling schedule featuring seven top-25 opponents in its 12 non-conference matches, helped Creighton start "just" 7-5 through 12 matches.
Each of the two previous times that Creighton has lost at least five of its first 12 matches, the Bluejays rebounded quite nicely.
In 2016 Creighton ended non-conference play with a 6-6 mark. That squad rebounded to win its next 23 matches and finished 29-7, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time.
The year before in 2015 Creighton finished the non-conference slate 5-7. That team won 22 of its next 23 matches, including a 17-1 mark in BIG EAST play, and qualified for the program's first Sweet 16 berth.
Attendance Update
Creighton ranks seventh nationally in total home attendance (33,915) and ninth in average fans per home match (4,239).
Creighton has led the BIG EAST in average home attendance in all but one non-COVID year since joining the league.
Creighton's 33,915 home fans this fall already rank fourth-most in program history, and there's still six home matches left on the docket.
The 4,239 fans per home match so far put CU on pace to shatter a program record.
Most Home Fans, Season
Rk. Fans Dates Year
1. 47,632 17 2018
2. 44,518 19 2024
3. 41,805 17 2022
4. 33,915 8 2025
5. 30,211 14 2021
Highest Home Attendance Average, Season
Average Rk. Fans Dates Year
1. 4,239 33,915 8 2025
2. 2,802 47,632 17 2018
3. 2,459 41,805 17 2022
4. 2,343 44,518 19 2024
5. 2,161 28,089 13 2023
Overwhelming The Unranked
Creighton is 9-0 this season against unranked teams, and the serve and pass game has been a major reason why.
In those seven matches (31 sets), CU has served 77 aces compared to 80 service errors. Its opponents have just 23 aces but made 80 serving miscues.
Fun With Numbers
- Creighton has not trailed by more than five points in any of its last 108 sets played against BIG EAST competition dating to a 17-10 deficit in the second set at Providence on Oct. 21, 2023 (Creighton won that set, 25-21).
- During Creighton's 39-match win streak over BIG EAST foes, the Bluejays have owned a hitting percentage advantage over its opponent of .098 or more in each match.
- Creighton has won the second set in 38 of its last 39 matches against BIG EAST opponents.
Report Card
Creighton is 192-16 all-time in regular-season BIG EAST matches.
Here's a report card of how CU has done in 50 match segments in the BIG EAST, which includes a 153-9 mark in its last 162 matches.
Matches W-L
1-50 43-7
51-100 48-2
101-150 46-4
151-200 47-3
201-208 8-0
Watch This!
Nine of Creighton's first 16 matches this fall have aired on television (four on FS1, three on BTN, two on Nebraska Public Media).
Creighton has also won 44 straight non-televised matches, since an Oct. 6, 2023 loss at Marquette.
Historically Speaking
Here's a look at the top indoor volleyball-only regular-season crowds in NCAA history after Creighton smashed a record on Sept. 16th at CHI Health Center Omaha.
Top Reg.-Season Indoor Volleyball-Only Crowds in NCAA History
Att. Opponent Date Site
17,675 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/16/25 Omaha, NE
17,037 Wisconsin def. Marquette, 3-1 9/13/23 Milwaukee, WI
16,833 Florida def. Wisconsin, 3-2 9/16/22 Madison, WI
15,797 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/7/22 Omaha, NE
15,734 Florida vs. Pittsburgh, 3-2 8/24/25 Lincoln, NE
15,734 Nebraska def. Stanford, 3-0
15,576 Nebraska def. Pittsburgh, 3-1 8/22/25 Lincoln, NE
15,576 Stanford vs. Florida, 3-1
15,084 Wisconsin def. Marquette, 3-1 9/17/24 Madison, WI
14,876 Wisconsin def. Purdue, 3-0 10/26/24 West Lafayette, IN
14,876 Purdue def. Indiana, 3-0 10/19/24 West Lafayette, IN
14,126 Nebraska def. Louisville, 3-0 9/22/24 Louisville, KY
14,035 Texas def. Wisconsin, 3-1 9/1/24 Milwaukee, WI
14,035 Stanford def. Minnesota, 3-2
14,022 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-2 9/6/18 Omaha, NE
13,870 UCLA def. Nebraska, 3-2 9/13/09 Lincoln, NE
13,412 Nebraska def. LSU, 3-0 9/12/08 Lincoln, NE
13,396 Nebraska def. Hawai'i, 3-0 10/21/07 Lincoln, NE
13,081 Cal Poly def. Creighton, 3-0 9/2/07 Omaha, NE
Nebraska def. Penn State, 3-0
13,071 Nebraska def. Maryland, 3-1 11/30/24 College Park, MD
12,760 Louisville def. Kentucky, 3-0 9/13/23 Louisville, KY
12,510 Pittsburgh def. Louisville, 3-1 11/27/24 Louisville, KY
12,504 Nebraska def. Colorado, 3-0 11/4/00 Lincoln, NE
12,277 Wisocnsin def. Florida, 3-1 9/21/25 Madison, WI
12,112 Nebraska def. Creighton, 3-1 9/24/06 Omaha, NE
Largest Crowds To See The Jays
Sept. 16th marked the fourth time in eight matches at CHI Health Center Omaha that Creighton broke an all-time NCAA's attendance record.
In 2007 CU played in front of 13,081 in a match against Cal Poly that was part of a doubleheader. In 2018 CU met Nebraska before 14,022 fans. In 2022, CU welcomed 15,797 fans against Nebraska. And on Sept. 16 the crowd was 17,675.
Below is a list of the largest crowds (and home crowds) in Creighton Volleyball history, which includes four crowds of 10,000 or more this fall.
Creighton's Largest Home Crowds All-Time
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
17,675 #1 Nebraska 09/16/25 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
15,797 #2 Nebraska 09/07/22 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
14,022 #7 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.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
2,665 Ole Miss 12/06/24 W 3-0 Sokol
2,658 #4 Louisville 09/12/25 L 1-3 Sokol
2,653 Auburn 12/02/22 L 2-3 Sokol
Creighton Volleyball's Largest Crowds (All Sites)
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
17,675 #1 Nebraska 09/16/25 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
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.
11,678 vs. #14 Kansas 08/31/25 W 3-2 Kohl Center
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,438 vs. #2 Penn St. 08/23/25 L 0-3 Pinn Bank Arena
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,072 vs. #5 Texas 08/29/25 L 0-3 Kohl Center
8,924 at #5 Nebraska 09/06/23 L 1-3 Devaney Ctr.
8,656 at #4 Nebraska 09/10/24 L 2-3 Devaney 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.
The Friendly Confines
Creighton had its first unbeaten home season in program history in 2023, going a perfect 13-0 in matches and 39-3 in sets.
Last year CU did even better, going 19-0 and losing just two sets at home.
Though its 32-match win streak was snapped on Sept. 12 against No. 4 Louisville, that still means the Bluejays are 38-1 in its last 39 contests at D.J. Sokol Arena.
All told, Creighton has won 108 of its last 113 home sets at D.J. Sokol Arena.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
32 Sept. 1, 2023 - Dec. 6, 2024 #4 Louisville, 3-1
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
Creighton Introduces New Taraflex Court
Creighton Volleyball introduced a new Taraflex® court at its 2025 regular-season home debut on Sept. 12 against Louisville.
The court was designed by GLGR out of Portland, Ore., in working with Specialty Floors out of Parkville, Mo., representatives of Taraflex Sports.
The new court features a royal blue outline with a feather pattern similar to what is on the Creighton men's basketball court that was unveiled last October at CHI Health Center Omaha. More than 6/10ths of a mile of stencils were used to create the blue feather border that features more than a dozen "Easter eggs" hidden throughout.
The words Creighton and Bluejays flank the end lines in white lettering. The East sideline features the words D.J. Sokol Arena on one side of the court and a BIG EAST Conference logo on the other, both shaded in light blue. The Northeast side of the court, where the team runs in and out when returning to or from the locker room, features the words "Fly Together", while Creighton's popular C-Bird logo adorns the Northwest and Southeast corners of the court
The West sideline features 14 smaller Bluejay bird outlines, seven on each side of the court. Inside those logo decals are years to designate NCAA Tournament appearances, with different colors used to highlight the program's previous trips to the first weekend, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Room to add future postseason appearances is available, if necessary.
The middle of the court features a gray outline of a Bluejay bird head. The hue of the two-tone court helps put the focus on the action and will make the players in uniform stand out, in addition to making it easier for officials to discern in/out calls along the sidelines. The matte finish on the court adds to the sharpness.
The perimeter of the court features no less than 14 hidden messages within the design, ranging from Heritage logos to honor Creighton's history, a map of the state of Nebraska, the year Creighton University was founded (1878), the year the Creighton Volleyball program was restarted (1994), and donor acknowledgements.
The court is a FIVB-certified playing surface and is up to the same high standards that it used in international competitions such as the Olympics. The design process for one of the most unique and complex designed courts in the world began in January, with the full painting process taking a little over a month in application and curing.
The Amazing Ava
Ava Martin had a career-high 24 kills vs. UC Santa Barbara, then added 20 on Sept. 13 vs. Rice in just three sets.
Martin now owns nine matches with 20+ kills in her career, and she's done it against some impressive competition.
Ava Martin's 20-Kill Matches
Kills Pct. Opponent Date
24 .286 vs. UC Santa Barbara 09/06/25
22 .333 #14 Marquette 11/26/22
22 .396 Northern Iowa 09/03/23
22 .180 at #9 Minnesota 09/16/23
21 .230 at Xavier 09/23/23
20 .400 at DePaul 11/22/24
20 .405 vs. Duke 08/27/23
20 .472 Rice 09/13/25
20 .514 at Marquette 10/02/25
Against Ranked Foes
After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the last 11 seasons (2015-25).
Creighton is 32-94 all-time against ranked teams, with 30 wins coming under Kirsten Bernthal Booth and two under Brian Rosen.
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.
This year is the ninth season that CU owned multiple Top-25 victories. The Jays beat three Top 25 teams in 2017, 2022 and 2023, and a record four in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Top 25 Sweeps
Creighton owns 32 top 25 victories in its history, but its Sept. 21 sweep of Kansas was just its ninth sweep of a ranked foe.
Three of those wins have come against Kansas, another three against Kentucky, two vs. Marquette and one at Purdue.
Creighton's 3-0 Wins vs. Top 25 Teams
Opponent Date
vs. #10 Kentucky 09/05/15
#13 Kentucky 09/01/17
at #7 Kansas 09/09/17
#21 Marquette 09/23/18
at #3 Kentucky 09/04/21
at #16 Purdue 08/26/23
#25 Marquette 11/05/23
at #10 Kansas 09/21/24
#17 Kansas 09/21/25
Top 25 History
Creighton is 244-53 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 27-33 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark is 4-4 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 48 of Creighton's 82 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 323-34 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 127 home matches over unranked teams and all but 13 of its last 184 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 27-33)
Home: 11-11 Away: 8-13 Neutral: 8-9
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
11/05/23 #17 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-0
12/07/23 #7 Louisville #17 Creighton 2-3
09/05/24 #11 Creighton #20 USC 3-1
09/10/24 #5 Nebraska #9 Creighton 2-3
09/15/24 #4 Louisville #9 Creighton 2-3
09/20/24 #9 Creighton #6 Purdue 3-1
09/21/24 #9 Creighton #10 Kansas 3-0
12/13/24 #6 Creighton #13 Texas 3-1
12/15/24 #2 Penn State #6 Creighton 2-3
08/23/25 #2 Penn State #12 Creighton 0-3
08/29/25 #5 Texas #12 Creighton 0-3
08/31/25 #12 Creighton #14 Kansas 3-2
09/07/25 #22 USC #13 Creighton 0-3
09/12/25 #4 Louisville #18 Creighton 1-3
09/16/25 #1 Nebraska #18 Creighton 2-3
09/21/25 #18 Creighton #17 Kansas 3-0
The Defense Never Rests
Creighton has led the country in opponents hitting percentage in two of the last four seasons, doing so in both 2021 (.124) and 2024 (.130).
Creighton is holding foes to .182 this year, a figure that plummets to .120 in league action.
High FIve
Brian Rosen is Creighton's first volleyball coach since the program's 1994 reinstatement to pick up his first victory in a five set match, as Ben Guiliano, Howard Wallace and Kirsten Bernthal Booth's first wins all came in 3-0 sweeps.
Record in 5-Set Matches
Coach Years Set 5 W-L
Ben Guiliano 1994-1996 2-10
Howard Wallace 1997-2002 13-18
Kirsten Bernthal Booth 2003-2024 70-42
Brian Rosen 2025-Pres. 2-1
Twice For Breissinger
Junior defensive specialist Sydney Breissinger helped Creighton erase a 3-0 deficit in the fifth set on Aug. 31 vs. Kansas, serving up a 9-0 run that helped the Bluejays take the lead for good. She also served a 9-0 run in the fourth set vs. San Diego on Sept. 5.
Breissinger's heroics were eerily similar to the 9-0 serving run she had in the fifth set on Sept. 16, 2023 in a win over No. 9 Minnesota. That win over the Gophers had been CU's last previous five-set win.
Since enrolling at Creighton in 2023, Breissinger owns 39 service runs of five or longer, 10 more than the next-closest Bluejay (Norah Sis, who graduated in 2024). Next-most among her active teammates is the 21 by Ava Martin.
146 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked 13th in the Oct. 6 edition of the AVCA poll, the 146th time in program history it's been ranked. That's 38th-most of all programs in NCAA history.
All 146 rankings have occurred since 2012.
The Bluejays are one of 11 schools (along with Baylor, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 69 polls.
Creighton's 69 weeks in a row being ranked dates began on Sept. 6, 2021 and sets a program-record, breaking the previous-high of 64 from Oct. 31, 2016 to March 15, 2021.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 12th in the AVCA preseason poll on Aug. 7th. It was the 11th time in the past 13 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason, and fourth year in a row.
The No. 12 slotting tied last year's team for the second-best preseason ranking in program history, trailing only the 2017 team that was ranked ninth.
Over the previous 17 seasons, 315-of-425 teams (74.1 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and in the 17 seasons from 2008-2024, 385-of-425 teams (90.6 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but preseason No. 19 Arkansas and No. 25 Georgia reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 14th 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 29-5 15th
2024 12th 32-3 5th
2025 12th TBD TBD
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-19 letterwinners to the court from last season, including three starters.
From last year's team, Norah Sis, Elise Goetzinger, Kendra Wait, Abbey Milner, Maddy Bilinovic, Audrey Clark, Katie Maser and Emma Ziegler are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 294.5 of a possible 700% back (42.1 percent), the smallest amount returning since it headed into Howard Wallace's final season in 2002.
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 119 (7.6%) 1,450 (92.4%)
Aces 115 (51.3%) 109 (48.7%)
Digs 598 (35.7%) 1,076 (64.3%)
Points 1,115.5 (50.2%) 1,107.0 (49.8%)
Kills 843 (50.1%) 841 (49.9%)
Matches Started 104 (49.5%) 106 (50.5%)
Blocks 157.5 (50.1%) 157.0 (49.9%)
One Tough Schedule
Of Creighton's 12 non-conference matches, seven were against ranked teams and three others against programs that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.
Creighton is the only team in the preseason Top 25 with 10 or more non-conference matches against teams getting votes, as Texas and TCU are next-closest with eight each.
No Losers Here
Creighton has been as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
Creighton and Pittsburgh are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 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, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons are also Creighton and Pittsburgh.
Creighton is also the only school nationally who have won 25 matches or more in every season between 2014-24 (not counting the 2020 COVID-19 year, when CU only played 16 times).
13 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 13 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 13 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make even 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of seven teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments (2012-24). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas.
There are also 12 schools that have appeared in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue, Stanford and Washington. Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, and Texas have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
Survival of the Fittest
Since the move to rally scoring in 2001, Creighton has won 10 matches when surviving a match point and lost four contests when holding a match point of its own.
Surviving Match Points Since 2001
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
09/27/02 Evansville 13-14, 14-15 19-17
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
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played multiple matches in 29 tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won 19 of them.
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).
CU's Multi-Match Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
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)
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)
2023 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2023 NCAA Tournament 2-1 (T-9th)
2024 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2024 Creighton Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 Cardinal Classic 2-1 (2nd)
2024 Jayhawk Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2024 NCAA Tournament 3-1 (T-5th)
2025 Opening Spike Classic 1-1 (T-2nd)
2025 Trojan Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2025 Bluejay Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2025 Creighton Classic 2-0 (1st)
Jays Earn Tourney Titles
Creighton has won at least one tournament each of the last 14 seasons, a streak that dates to 2012.
During that span, the Bluejays have won 36 tournament titles, not to mention 12 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton has also now won at least one home tournament each of the last nine seasons.
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 5 Purdue, CU, UNO, MINN, BIG EAST
2024 4 CU, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2025 1 CU
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 428-11 (.975) all-time when leading a match 2-0, and 155-1 (.994) 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 94.9 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Creighton has won 115 matches in a row when taking a 2-0 lead.
Conversely, the Jays are 17-211 (.075) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. 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 has gone 171-6 in its last 177 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 18-26 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 203-4 (.981) in its last 207 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set won just 20.3 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 173-6 in its last 179 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only to Pacific (Sept. 12, 2015), No. 7 Nebraska (Sept. 6, 2018), South Dakota (Jan. 29, 2021), No. 16 Kentucky (Sept. 3, 2022), Auburn (Dec. 2, 2022) and No. 4 Louisville (Sept. 12, 2025).
The Jays have won their last 37 of their last 38 home matches following a first set victory.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team will play 10 matches against teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament with contests against Marquette (2x), Nebraska, Kansas (2x), Louisville, Northern Iowa, USC, Texas and Penn State.
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 11-3
2024 9-3
2025 4-5 so far
TOTAL 120-150
TOTAL Before Booth 3-35
TOTAL Under Booth 113-110
TOTAL Under Rosen 4-5
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
RS/MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ 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
