Volleyball Unveils New Taraflex® Court
9/10/2025 2:58:00 PM | Volleyball, Facilities
Bluejays introduce one-of-a-kind court.
OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 18 Creighton Volleyball program will introduce a new Taraflex® court when it makes its 2025 regular-season home debut on Friday night against No. 4 Louisville.
The court was designed by GLGR out of Portland, Ore., in working with Specialty Floors out of Parkville, Mo., representatives of Taraflex Sports.
"We've been fortunate to have some great people like Josh Olson and Mike Leonzal on this project; both for the painting and on-site for installation," said Specialty Floors Vice President Matt Frailey. "They've ensured the care that was taken by GLGR and Creighton Athletics to design the most unique volleyball court in the world was equaled in its execution.
"It takes a village to pursue a project of this ambition, and it should be no surprise to anyone on Earth that it happened in the state of Nebraska. Nothing but further proof that the home of volleyball has only gotten stronger."
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 court replaces a Taraflex® surface that had been used since a September 21, 2018 match against DePaul. The Bluejays are 92-7 inside D.J. Sokol Arena since then and own a program-record 32-match home win streak that ranks as the third-longest active home winning streak nationally.
Though Friday's match against Louisville is sold out, fans can purchase tickets to most other remaining home matches at the CU Ticket Office inside D.J. Sokol Arena, via Ticketmaster outlets, or at http://GoCreighton.com/buy.
The court was designed by GLGR out of Portland, Ore., in working with Specialty Floors out of Parkville, Mo., representatives of Taraflex Sports.
"We've been fortunate to have some great people like Josh Olson and Mike Leonzal on this project; both for the painting and on-site for installation," said Specialty Floors Vice President Matt Frailey. "They've ensured the care that was taken by GLGR and Creighton Athletics to design the most unique volleyball court in the world was equaled in its execution.
"It takes a village to pursue a project of this ambition, and it should be no surprise to anyone on Earth that it happened in the state of Nebraska. Nothing but further proof that the home of volleyball has only gotten stronger."
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 court replaces a Taraflex® surface that had been used since a September 21, 2018 match against DePaul. The Bluejays are 92-7 inside D.J. Sokol Arena since then and own a program-record 32-match home win streak that ranks as the third-longest active home winning streak nationally.
Though Friday's match against Louisville is sold out, fans can purchase tickets to most other remaining home matches at the CU Ticket Office inside D.J. Sokol Arena, via Ticketmaster outlets, or at http://GoCreighton.com/buy.
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