Next Match Creighton (9-14, 6-7 MVC) opens a season-long four-match home stand, starting this Saturday when it hosts Drake (18-9, 7-6 MVC). First serve at D.J. Sokol Arena in the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center (2,950) is set for 7 pm.
Next Match Nov. 7 7:00 pm Drake at Creighton Ryan Athletic Center
Radio Broadcast Information Saturday’s match will be broadcast locally on KOIL (1180 AM). Audio from the match will also be streamed live for free on-line at http://www.gocreighton.com, then clicking on the Live Audio tab on the left sidebar. Brad Burwell and Erin Swanson will call the action.
Video Webcast Information Saturday’s match will be video webcast. To sign up, visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Video tab on the left sidebar. An annual subscription costs $69.95, while a monthly subscription costs $11.95 per month.
Live Stats Information Saturday’s match will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the left-hand side of the page for links the exact link.
Scouting Creighton Creighton enters this weekend tied for fifth in the MVC standings with a 6-7 league mark, and is 9-14 overall. The Jays trail Saturday’s opponent, Drake, by one match. The Bluejays have played five of their matches against teams receiving votes in this week’s AVCA poll, including a win on Oct. 2 over then-No. 25 Wichita State. Senior MB Jessica Houts, leads Creighton with 2.78 kills per set and a Valley-best 1.44 blocks per set (ninth nationally). Houts was a first-team all-MVC selection in 2008, when she was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year as well as AVCA Honorable-Mention All-American. Junior OH Allie Oelke is second on the club with 2.59 kills and 2.91 digs per set. She’s had a double-double in seven of Creighton’s 13 MVC matches this fall. Topping Creighton’s back row is junior libero Nayka Benitez, who averages 4.30 digs and 0.38 aces per set to lead the team in both categories. The Bluejays average 11.94 kills, 1.06 aces, 14.80 digs and 3.05 blocks per set (third-most nationally) while hitting .183 as a team.
Scouting Drake Drake is 18-9 on the season, easily its most wins since the 1996 club went 24-4, and currently stands in fourth place in the MVC with a 7-6 league record. The Bulldogs had their seven-match win streak snapped last weekend while going 0-2 at Wichita State and Missouri State. The Bulldogs have five players with 150 or more kills this season, a quintet led by Angela Bys (2.55 kps.) and Alisa DeBerg Roth (2.33 kps.). Michelle Reidy averages 2.10 kills and a team-best 1.01 blocks per set, while libero Alana Wittenburg averages 5.01 digs per set and is DU’s all-time leader in that category. Drake averages 12.61 kills, 1.05 aces, 16.30 digs and 2.30 blocks per set while hitting .204 as a team.
The Coaches Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 115-86 record in her seventh season with the Bluejays. She became the program’s all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007 with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin and joined the 100-win club with an Oct. 31, 2008 win at Drake. Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri’s 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated. Booth is helped by associate head coach Paul Giesselmann, assistant coach Angie Oxley Behrens and volunteer assistant Mike Weber. Phil McDaniel (Culver-Stockton College, 1996) is 30-29 in his second season at Drake, which also doubles as his career mark as a head coach. McDaniel spent three seasons as an assistant at both South Dakota State and New Mexico State before heading to Drake. He is assisted by Erin Hirsch and Chris Brees.
Series History vs. Drake Creighton owns a 17-14 record in 31 all-time meetings with Drake, including an 8-7 mark during 15 meetings in Omaha. Creighton has won 11 of the last 13 meetings in the series, including the last six contests in Omaha. Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 11-2 against Drake and 2-1 versus Phil McDaniel.
Last Weekend Summary Creighton went 0-2 last week, losing at Missouri State (3-0) and at Wichita State (3-1) on the league’s most difficult road swing. Jessica Houts led Creighton with a combined 25 kills on the weekend.
The Houts 500 Jessica Houts recorded 10 block assists last weekend, giving her 500 in her career. The only players ahead of her in league history are Danielle Brazda (658), Molly O’Brien (653), Ashten Stelken (540) and Mindy Struckhoff (527).
Houts Can Tie This Record, Too Should she play against Drake, senior Jessica Houts will tie Korie Lebeda’s school record for matches played in a career with 119. Houts also is the school record for sets played with 424, four behind the 428 sets played by Lebeda from 2005-08.
Benitez Aces This Test Junior libero Nayka Benitez served up a remarkable five straight aces in the second set of last Friday’s match at Missouri State. Making her achievement all the more impressive is that MSU was allowing a scant 0.53 aces per set in league play entering the contest. Benitez’s 33 aces rank ninth-most in CU single-season history and are already more than her next two teammates combined.
A November To Remember Creighton will play at home in three of the next four weekends, as it starts a season-long four-match homestand on Saturday against Drake. Incredibly, this will be the first time in school history that the Jays have hosted four straight matches in the month of November.
Houts Named Defensive Player of the Week Jessica Houts was named the 2008 MVC Defensive Player of the Year, but incredibly, had never been named Valley Defensive Player of the Week until last Monday, October 26th. Houts earned her first such honor in recognition of a week that saw her average 2.86 kills, 2.57 blocks and 1.43 digs per set in wins over Illinois State and Indiana State. On Oct. 23 against Illinois State, she had 15 kills while also becoming the first player in school history to amass 100 or more blocks in four straight years. The following night against Indiana State she tied a 14-year-old school record with 12 blocks in a three-set match. She also moved from eighth to fifth in MVC history with 490 career block assists during that weekend.
Houts One of a Kind Senior Jessica Houts is averaging 1.44 blocks per set and 1.08 digs per set this fall. That makes her the only player in the country to average more than 1.40 blocks and 1.00 digs per set. Last year while playing all six rotations Houts was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging an even more impressive 1.35 blocks and 1.72 digs per set, making her the only player in the nation to reach both those standards. National Block Leaders (stats through 11/1) Rk. Name, School Sets BPS DPS 1. Amanda Gil, UCLA 82 1.61 0.87 2. Alli Arbogast, USF 64 1.61 0.28 3. Johannah Bangert, Illinois 75 1.59 0.36 4. Erica Jepsen, Portland State 69 1.57 0.20 5. Arielle Wilson, Penn State 76 1.51 0.39 7. Sarah Morton, Syracuse 104 1.47 0.62 8. Brittany Hewitt, Hawaii 59 1.46 0.22 9. Jessica Houts, Creighton 88 1.44 1.08 10. Annie Gruenschlaeger, Morehead St. 96 1.44 0.24 11. Anna McKinney, Idaho 95 1.43 0.09 12. Debbie Pederson, Idaho 94 1.41 0.52 13. Anna Breyfogle, Baylor 82 1.41 0.60 14. Brittnee Cooper, LSU 84 1.39 0.17 15. Kelsey Bohman, George Mason 96 1.39 0.27
Schulze Eyes 1,000 Digs Sarah Schulze is closing in on 1,000 career digs. The senior from Dixon, Ill., has moved into seventh place in CU history with 969 career digs, needing just 31 to reach 1,000 in her career. When she gets there, she’ll be the seventh CU player to reach 1,000 career digs, but the first Bluejay to do it who spent the majority of her career as an outside hitter. Most Career Digs, Creighton History Name Sets No. Years 1. Janeen Piller 336 1,392 2001-04 2. Kailey Reyes 368 1,258 1998-01 3. Melissa Walsh 394 1,240 1998-01 4. Melissa Weisensee 411 1,223 1994-97 5. Korie Lebeda 428 1,130 2005-08 6. Bianca Rivera 207 1,118 2007-08 7. Sarah Schulze 371 969 2006-Pr. 8. Abby Baumann 375 935 2004-07 9. Shelly Kapler 388 922 1996-99 10. Erin Swanson 319 908 1998-01
The Race is On The race is officially on for the top six spots in the MVC standings and a slot in the State Farm MVC Tournament. As tournament host, Creighton is guaranteed one of the six spots in the tournament, regardless of its league finish. Northern Iowa (12-0 MVC), Missouri State (10-2) and Wichita State (9-3) all seem to be in excellent shape, while Bradley (0-12) has been eliminated. That leaves four teams fighting for two spots with five/six matches to play. Currently, Drake is 7-6 and alone in fourth place, one game ahead of Creighton (6-7), Southern Illinois and Evansville. Illinois State is alone in eighth place currently at 5-8, and still has to face the top three teams in the league standings. The Redbirds have never missed an MVC Tournament, having qualified each of the past 27 years. In a distant ninth place is Indiana State, which is 2-11 and would likely have to win out to have a bid. If the past is any indication, teams should plan on winning nine league matches to assure themselves a spot. Since the league went to an 18-match league schedule and six-team league tournament (1996), all 67 teams with nine or more league wins have qualified for the MVC Tournament. Teams with eight or more league wins have advanced 72 of 74 times. The first exception was Southern Illinois (8-10) in 1997, which lost a tiebreaker with Indiana State (8-10). The second exception was in 2000, when sixth place Bradley (8-10) was bumped in favor of seventh place Indiana State (7-11) since the Sycamores were hosting the tournament.
NCAA Stats Update Creighton is ranked third-best nationally with 3.05 blocks per set, according to the most recent set of NCAA statistics through matches of November 1st. Idaho tops the nation with 3.11 blocks per set. That is the only team category that ranks Creighton in the top-125. Individually, three players rank in the top-100 of any category. Senior Jessica Houts is ninth in the country with 1.44 blocks per set, trailing the leader Amanda Gil of UCLA’s 1.61 bps. Bluejay teammate Laurel Sanford is 33rd with 1.26 blocks per set. Additionally, Nayka Benitez has moved to 97th at 4.30 digs per set and is 76th with 0.38 aces per set.
Blocking A Key Stat Creighton leads the Missouri Valley Conference in blocks per set in league-only (3.05 bps.) matches as well as all matches (3.05 bps.). Creighton is 9-7 when posting 10 or more blocks, but 0-7 when failing to reach double-digits in that category.
Stuff City Creighton set all sorts of blocking marks in its last home match, an Oct. 24 sweep of Indiana State. Creighton's 20 blocks were a school-record for a three-set match and one away from the record for a match of any duration. It also ties the most in the MVC this season with the 20 stuffs CU had against Lipscomb in a four-set match in September. In addition, Jessica Houts tied a Creighton record for blocks in a three-set match with 12 rejections.
Oelke Doubling Up Junior Allie Oelke has put together double-doubles in six of her past 10 matches, and seven of the first 13 MVC matches of the fall. That gives her 24 double-dips in her career.
Dig This Creighton is one of just 11 squads to average at least 17.20 digs per set in each of the previous three seasons, a list that consists of Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Creighton, Duke, Green Bay, Illinois State, Murray State, North Carolina, Rice, Southeast Missouri State and Western Illinois. During that same span, Creighton’s 18.851 digs per set average ranks fourth-best nationally, just ahead of No. 5 Wichita State’s 18.711 average, as seen below: Digs Per Set, Nationally, 2006-08 Rk. School SP DIGS DPS 1. Murray State 338 6918 20.467 2. Chattanooga 361 7356 20.377 3. Illinois State 348 6812 19.575 4. Creighton 323 6089 18.851 5. Wichita State 342 6399 18.711 6. Austin Peay 345 6435 18.652 7. North Dakota State 323 6015 18.622 8. High Point 364 6763 18.580 9. Western Illinois 344 6391 18.578 10. SE Missouri State 348 6398 18.385
Duo Earned Weekly Awards Two members of the Creighton volleyball team were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference for their play on October 19th. Sophomore Laurel Sanford was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week, while freshman Megan Bober is the MVC Freshman of the Week. A sophomore middle blocker from Eagan, Minn., Sanford averaged a whopping 2.22 blocks per set to go with 2.44 kills and 0.22 digs per set as Creighton split road matches at Evansville and Southern Illinois. She opened her week with a career-high 16 kills, six more than her previous best, and added eight blocks while hitting .333 in a five-set match at Evansville. She had four kills and two blocks in the fifth set while trying to carry the Bluejays to victory. One night later Sanford had a huge blocking night, nabbing 12 blocks (1 solo, 11 assists) to go with six kills, in a four-set win at SIU. The 12 blocks for Sanford were second-most in CU history for a four-set match, second-most in the MVC this year and make her the only player in the MVC with two matches of 10 or more blocks this fall. This was Sanford’s first career weekly honor from the MVC. Bober averaged 11.00 assists, 2.22 digs, 0.89 kills and 0.44 blocks per set and earns her second MVC Freshman of the Week accolade this month (also Oct. 5). She had a career-high 57 assists on October 16th in a five-set match at Evansville, easily surpassing her previous best of 43 assists. She added eight digs, two aces, three kills and a solo block. Bober closed her weekend with 42 assists, 12 digs, five kills and three blocks in Creighton's 3-1 win at Southern Illinois for the second double-double of her young career.
Friday Night Lights Creighton has won nine straight home matches played on a Friday. Additionally, Creighton is 14-3 in its past 17 Friday road matches in MVC play. Creighton is 19-9 under Kirsten Bernthal Booth in MVC road matches played on Friday and 17-14 in MVC road matches played on Saturdays. The Jays are also 0-1 in MVC Sunday road matches and 1-0 in MVC Tuesday road matches under Booth.
Houts Surpasses 100 Blocks, Again Jessica Houts has played in 118 matches in her career, and had at least one block in all but four of them. On Oct. 23rd, Houts became the first player in CU history to post four different seasons of 100 or more blocks. How impressive is that? Only five other players in school history have done it even once: JoDe Cieloha (3 times), Ashley Williams (2), Melissa Walsh (2), Sarah Beulke (1), Lauren Bloemke (1) and Laurel Sanford (1).
Benitez Starts 30/30 Club Junior libero Nayka Benitez became the first player in Creighton history to post 30 or more digs in consecutive matches on October 2nd when she posted a career-high 36 digs in a victory over Wichita State. The contest followed up her previous best, 30 digs at Illinois State, the previous Saturday. Benitez’s 36 digs are the third-most of any player in the MVC in any match this fall.
Bober Named MVC Freshman of the Week Megan Bober was named State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Week on October 4th. This was her first honor of the season, and she is the only first Bluejay to earn MVC Player, Defensive or Freshman of the Week accolades this fall. Bober hit .400 while averaging 10.29 assists, 1.86 digs, 1.86 kills and 1.71 blocks in two of her best all-around performances to date against the top two teams in the MVC preseason poll. She began her week by tying her career highs with 43 assists and seven kills while adding seven blocks and five digs in a 3-1 victory over Wichita State that was CU's first-ever win over a ranked team. On Saturday, Bober had six kills while hitting .500 and added 29 assists, five blocks and eight digs against MVC co-leader Missouri State.
An Impressive Streak Ends Creighton extended an impressive streak in its Sept. 25th 3-2 win at Indiana State, only to see it snapped the following day against Illinois State. Before the Sept. 26th loss to the Redbirds, the Bluejays had won 13 straight MVC road matches to go five sets, a streak that began in 2000. During that impressive run, CU owned at least one five-set road win against each of the other nine teams in the MVC. Date Opponent 5th Set Score 10/14/00 at Indiana State CU 15-12 11/04/00 at Evansville CU 16-14 10/04/03 at Bradley CU 15-6 10/15/04 at Bradley CU 15-11 10/15/05 at Southern Illinois CU 15-8 11/18/05 at Northern Iowa CU 16-14 10/13/06 at Wichita State CU 17-15 11/18/06 at Evansville CU 15-10 09/11/07 at Drake CU 17-15 09/21/07 at Northern Iowa CU 15-12 10/10/08 at Illinois State CU 15-9 10/25/08 at Missouri State CU 15-12 09/25/08 at Indiana State CU 15-12
Near Triple-Double Jessica Houts nearly posted Creighton’s first triple-double since 2001 when she turned in 15 kills, nine blocks and nine digs in CU’s 3-1 win over No. 25 Wichita State on Oct. 2. No Bluejay has put together a triple-double in kills/digs/blocks since JoDe Cieloha in 1996. The 15-9-9 performance by Houts was her first MVC match this fall with at least seven kills, seven digs and seven blocks. Only Wichita State MB Sarah McGee can also claim one this year. Last season Houts had six of the league’s seven 7-7-7 matches in conference action. 7+ Kills, 7+Digs, 7+Blocks in an MVC Match, 2009 Name, School SETS K D B Date Jessica Houts, CU 4 15 9 9 10/2 Sarah McGee, WSU 4 12 8 7 10/2
Against Ranked Teams Creighton's 3-1 win over Wichita State on October 2nd marked its first-ever win over a ranked team. Creighton had entered the match with an 0-35 record all-time against ranked teams, which included an 0-19 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth and 0-11 record at home against ranked foes. In its first 35 matches against ranked teams Creighton had forced a match to five sets just once, last year in an eventual 3-2 loss to then- No. 21 LSU. Creighton vs. Ranked Teams All-Time Date Opponent Result 09/01/98 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3 09/04/98 vs. #19 Texas A&M (@Pacific) L 0-3 09/05/98 at #11 Pacific L 0-3 09/14/99 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3 10/16/99 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3 09/08/00 at #6 Hawai’i L 0-3 10/03/00 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3 09/08/01 at #24 Santa Clara L 1-3 09/09/01 vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara (at Santa Clara) L 0-3 09/25/01 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3 10/13/01 #16 Northern Iowa L 0-3 11/09/01 at #18 Northern Iowa L 0-3 09/06/02 vs. #13 Pacific (at Columbia, S.C.) L 0-3 09/21/02 at #7 Northern Iowa L 1-3 09/29/02 at #5 Nebraska L 0-3 10/18/02 #10 Northern Iowa L 0-3 10/04/03 at #10 Northern Iowa L 1-3 11/01/03 #12 Northern Iowa L 1-3 10/10/04 vs. #5 Nebraska (North Platte, Neb.) L 0-3 09/06/05 at #24 Kansas State L 0-3 09/10/05 vs. #3 Stanford (Boulder, Colo.) L 0-3 10/11/05 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3 10/29/05 at #25 Wichita State L 1-3 09/24/06 #1 Nebraska L 1-3 08/31/07 at #1 Nebraska L 0-3 09/02/07 #18 Cal Poly L 0-3 09/15/07 at #13 Minnesota L 1-3 11/10/07 at #24 Wichita State L 0-3 08/29/08 #16 Minnesota L 0-3 08/30/08 #21 LSU L 2-3 09/27/08 #14 Wichita State L 1-3 10/05/08 #2 Nebraska L 0-3 10/24/08 at #12 Wichita State L 0-3 08/29/09 #10 Illinois L 0-3 09/01/09 at #6 Nebraska L 0-3 10/02/09 #25 Wichita State W 3-1
Close Doesn’t Count Part of Creighton’s struggles can be attributed to its difficulty in winning close sets. Creighton is just 8-16 in sets decided by the minimum two points, a figure that drops to 1-13 in the team’s 14 match losses. Drake is 9-8 in sets decided by two points this fall.
Obstacle Course Only two individuals in the MVC own 10 or more blocks in multiple matches this season, with both of them playing for Creighton. Senior Jessica Houts had 14 blocks against Lipscomb (Sept. 4) and 12 stuffs against Indiana State, while sophomore teammate Laurel Sanford had 10 blocks against Connecticut on September 12th and 12 blocks at Southern Illinois on Oct. 17th.
How Do You Win The MVC? Start 1-0 At the start of the conference season, all 10 Missouri Valley Conference schools will harbor dreams of a regular-season league title. If the past is any indication, only Creighton, Missouri State, Wichita State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois still have a chance. Since the beginning of the Gateway Conference (which later merged to form the Missouri Valley Conference in 1992) in 1983, no school has ever won the regular-season title after dropping its first league match of the season. Taking it a step further, the 2008 Missouri State team is the only club to win the MVC Tournament after starting 0-1 in league play. Even better for Creighton, two of the last three eventual regular-season champions opened the MVC season against Bradley.
Blocked By Bober Freshman Megan Bober tied a Creighton record for most blocks in a match by a setter when she had nine rejections on Sept. 5 in four sets against Lipscomb. Melissa Weisensee also had nine blocks against Wichita State on Nov. 15, 1996. Bober, who added 14 digs and 29 assists in the match, nearly recorded CU’s first triple-double since 2001 and would have been the first player in school history with double-digits in assists, digs and blocks in the same match.
Dig Leader Junior libero Nayka Benitez has led Creighton in digs in 17 of the team’s first 23 matches to date and tops the squad with 378 digs on the year. Benitez became the second-quickest in CU history to 100 career digs (8 matches), 200 digs (13 matches) and 300 digs (18 matches) Below is a list that shows Creighton’s quickest players to 100, 200 and 300 digs in a career. Creighton’s Quickest Players To 100 Digs (Career) Name MP Date Opponent Bianca Rivera 6 09/02/07 Cal Poly Nayka Benitez 8 09/12/09 vs. Connecticut Three Players 10
Creighton’s Quickest Players To 200 Digs (Career) Name MP Date Opponent Bianca Rivera 11 09/15/07 vs. Charlotte Nayka Benitez 13 09/25/09 at Indiana State Kailey Reyes 16 10/17/98 at Illinois State
Creighton’s Quickest Players To 300 Digs (Career) Name MP Date Opponent Bianca Rivera 15 09/28/07 Illinois State Nayka Benitez 18 10/16/09 at Evansville Kailey Reyes 25 09/03/99 vs. Gonzaga
Let’s Start With Houts Senior Jessica Houts has started each of her last 68 matches, a streak that began Oct. 21, 2006 at Drake. Houts has started 111 of her past 112 appearances overall. Houts is just the fourth player in Creighton history to make 100 career starts, joining Korie Lebeda (119), Melissa Walsh (107) and Kelly Goc (103).
Full House Creighton has finished in the top-26 of the nation’s attendance leaders each of the past three seasons, and is off to another good start this fall. Creighton is averaging 1,190 fans per match so far, a figure that currently ranks 34th-best nationally. Below is the nation’s top-35: Average Attendance Leaders (through 11/1) Rank School Avg. Dates 1. Hawaii 6,363 16 2. Nebraska 5,077 10 3. Minnesota 4,467 9 4. Wisconsin 3,912 8 5. Texas 3,337 7 6. Penn State 2,990 10 7. Wichita State 2,729 11 8. Florida 2,723 9 9. Illinois 2,489 8 10. Washington 2,460 6 11. Stanford 2,359 8 12. Northern Iowa 2,287 7 13. Purdue 2,213 13 14. Michigan State 2,018 10 15. Ohio 1,936 8 16. Kansas State 1,913 10 17. Fresno State 1,871 8 18. New Mexico State 1,836 10 19. Iowa State 1,830 8 20. Colorado State 1,819 12 21. North Carolina 1,793 9 22. Texas A&M 1,689 9 23. Missouri 1,625 9 24. Oregon State 1,596 8 25. UCLA 1,577 5 26. New Mexico 1,548 12 27. Oregon 1,433 10 28. Kentucky 1,384 10 29. Michigan 1,254 13 30. South Florida 1,244 7 31. North Dakota State 1,236 8 32. Iowa 1,224 7 33. Long Beach State 1,192 9 34. Creighton 1,190 9 35. BYU 1,175 11
New Facility Dedicated The Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena was dedicated on the morning of August 28th in a morning ceremony. There was also a smaller presentation made during the intermission of the Creighton/Texas Tech match later that evening. The facility will host the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament later this month.
Back Home On Campus The match on Aug. 28 was Creighton’s first regular-season contest on campus since playing at the Kiewit Fitness Center from 1994-96. Since leaving the Kiewit Fitness Center, Creighton had played at five other home venues: Qwest Center Omaha, the Omaha Civic Auditorium and three Omaha high schools (Skutt, Marian and South).
A Fresh Start Between 2000 and 2008, the only freshmen to start CU’s season-opener had been Brittany Coleman (2003), Carolyn Decker (2004), Korie Lebeda (2005) and Allie Oelke (2007). All four of those women went on to earn a spot on the MVC’s All-Freshman team. The Jays started three freshmen in this year’s season opener, as Megan Bober, Brooke Boggs and Heather Thorson all earning a starting nod.
Crowd Control? Creighton attracted the fourth-largest crowd in program history for the Aug. 28 home opener against Texas Tech when 2,285 fans packed D.J. Sokol Arena. The previous largest on-campus crowd for CU had been 476 for a match vs. Evansville on Nov. 4, 1994. The previous largest crowd for a home opener had been the 1,227 that saw Middle Tennessee on Aug. 24, 1997. Below are Creighton’s largest home volleyball crowds all-time. The top three crowds took place at Qwest Center Omaha. Largest Home Crowds, Creighton VB History Att. Opponent Date CU Result 13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 2,285 Texas Tech 08/2809 W 3-0 1,557 Northern Iowa 11/21/08 W 3-0 1,357 Northern Iowa 10/20/07 L 0-3 1,325 Indiana State 09/29/07 W 3-0 1,319 Northern Iowa 10/06/06 L 2-3 1,227 Middle Tennessee 08/24/07 L 0-3 1,187 Missouri State 10/03/09 L 0-3
Another Year, Another Schedule Adjustment For the second consecutive season, Creighton’s non-conference schedule was altered due to a rare occurrence out of its control. This year, the Tulane volleyball team withdrew from the Bluejay Invitational (Aug. 28-29) after six players showed symptoms of the H1N1 virus, which prevented the squad from travelling. Last year, Creighton’s scheduled participation in the Ladyjack Invitational on the campus of Stephen F. Austin was cancelled due to the fact that the Nacogdoches, Texas school’s campus was located in the path of Hurricane Ike. That cost Creighton matches against Oklahoma, Rice and host Stephen F. Austin.
Record Home Win Streak Snapped By Illini Creighton had its school-record seven-match home win streak snapped on Aug. 29 in a 3-0 loss to No. 10 Illinois. That stretch had started on Oct. 17, 2008 with a win over Evansville and also contained victories over Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Bradley and Texas Tech.
Hitting On All Cylinders Creighton attacked at a robust .398 clip in its Aug. 28 romp over Texas Tech. That ranks as the fifth-best figure for a match in school history. Creighton is 47-1 all-time when hitting .300 or better, including 41 straight victories. Best Creighton Attack Percentage in a Match Pct. Opponent (K-E-TA) (Sets) Date .536 vs. Tulsa (41-4-69) (3s) 10-27-95 .495 vs. Liberty (57-8-99) (3s) 09-02-05 .418 vs. Evansville (98-21-184) (4s) 11-02-96 .414 vs. UC Riverside (57-11-111) (3s) 09-02-05 .398 vs. Texas Tech (47-10-93) (3s) 08-28-08
I’ll Take Houts For The Block Jessica Houts broke Creighton’s all-time block assist record last Nov. 7 against Indiana State and with 500 currently, she has flown past Ashley Williams’ (2001-04) old mark of 347. Houts claimed Creighton’s total block record in this year’s season-opening 3-0 win over Texas Tech. Her 570 career blocks are many more than Williams’ 447, and she became the first player in CU history to reach 500 career total blocks on Sept. 19 vs. Northern Iowa. Also listed is the MVC’s all-time leaders in block assists: Total Blocks, Creighton History Name Sets BS BA Tot. Years 1. Jessica Houts 424 70 500 570 2005-Pr. 2. Ashley Williams 359 100 347 447 2001-04 3. JoDe Cieloha 398 106 331 437 1994-97 4. Melissa Walsh 394 46 320 366 1998-01 5. Kelly Goc 394 44 310 354 2004-07 6. Sarah Beulke 299 57 250 307 2001-04 7. Shelly Kapler 388 40 241 281 1996-99 8. Korie Lebeda 428 42 236 278 2005-08 9. Lauren Bloemke 299 36 218 254 2006-Pr. 10. Lisa Meekins 292 16 208 224 1999-01
Most Block Assists, MVC History Name, School Block Assists Years 1. Danielle Brazda, UNI 658 2004-07 2. Molly O’Brien, UNI 653 2000-03 3. Ashten Stelken, UNI 540 2005-08 4. Mindy Struckhoff, MSU 527 1985-88 5. Jessica Houts, CU 500 2005-Pr. 6. Shari Vermeer, UNI 489 2001-04
Freshman Setters Nothing New For the third time in Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s seven seasons at Creighton, the Bluejays began the season starting a freshman setter. Both setters on this year’s roster, Brittany Moon and Megan Bober, are freshmen, with Bober earning every start so far. In 2003 with Brittany Coleman starting as a freshman, Creighton improved from 3-23 (in 2002) to 12-18, a nine-win improvement. Coleman set a then-CU record with 1,347 assists while starting all 30 matches. Creighton then finished 16-14 in 2005 as freshman Korie Lebeda arrived and Coleman was shifted to libero. Lebeda broke Coleman’s record with 1,401 assists while averaging a league-record 13.34 assists per set. Both Coleman and Lebeda would both go on to earn a spot on the MVC’s All-Freshman Team.
2-0 Better Than 0-2 Creighton is 134-8 (.944) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 76-2 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. They own a 64-4 all-time mark in home matches they lead 2-0 in. Conversely, the Jays are 6-150 (.038) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, including an 0-49 mark in those home matches. Those six comebacks 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
Dandy Debuts Nayka Benitez had 15 digs in the season-opening victory over Texas Tech, the most in school history by a player making their debut. Fellow newcomer Alicia Runge also approached a pair of school records for a debut. Her three blocks were one shy of the record (held by current teammate Lauren Bloemke). Additionally, Runge’s nine kills were tied for second-most in CU history for a debut and the most since Heidi Higginbotham had nine in 1995.
The Votes Add Up Creighton has eight matches scheduled against teams that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll. Five of those squads will visit D.J. Sokol Arena, including No. 10 Illinois, No. 18 Wichita State, No. 20 Saint Louis and votegetters Tulane and Missouri State. Creighton also plays on the road at No. 3 Nebraska and No. 18 Wichita State as well as votegetter Missouri State.
Survival of the Fittest Creighton has won four matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent’s match point. On the other hand, Creighton is 115-0 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity. Surviving Match Points, Under Booth Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5 09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15 10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15 10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14 08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
Set 1 Result = Match Result In its last 100 matches in which it wins set one, Creighton is 90-10. CU is 97-14 overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when they win set one. On the other hand, Creighton is just 18-72 in matches under Booth when it drops the first set.
Taking The Fifth Creighton is 21-11 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. That’s impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth’s arrival. Below is a list of Creighton’s record in five-set matches on a yearly basis: Year Set 5 W-L Total W-L 1994 0-2 5-20 1995 0-2 11-19 1996 2-6 9-19 1997 3-5 15-13 1998 2-3 7-18 1999 3-3 13-15 2000 3-3 16-12 2001 1-1 14-13 2002 1-3 3-23 2003 5-1 12-18 2004 4-0 18-11 2005 3-1 16-14 2006 4-2 21-10 2007 2-0 21-10 2008 2-3 18-9 2009 1-4 9-14 Total 36-39 208-238
Preseason MVC Poll Creighton has been picked fourth in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches. Defending regular-season champion Wichita State was picked to win the league, while defending tournament champion Missouri State was second. Northern Iowa was third, Creighton fourth and Southern Illinois fifth. Rounding out the rest of the league was Evansville, Illinois State, Drake, Bradley and Indiana State. Eight players were also named preseason all-MVC, including Bluejay senior Jessica Houts. Each of the past six years Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll. Year Preseason Pick Finish Move 1994 11th 9th #2 1995 9th 7th #2 1996 9th 6th #3 1997 8th 3rd #5 1998 6th 8th i2 1999 T-7th 5th #2 2000 4th T-4th - - 2001 2nd 4th i2 2002 7th 9th i2 2003 9th T-5th #4 2004 5th 5th - - 2005 5th 5th - - 2006 4th 4th - - 2007 3rd T-2nd #1 2008 3rd 2nd #1 2009 4th ??? ???
Production Returning Creighton returned 6-of-12 letterwinners from last season. Below is a breakdown of the production that returns: Stat Returners Departures Blocks 161.5 (59.9%) 108 (40.1%) Matches Started 97 (59.9%) 65 (40.1%) Points 895.5 (52.5%) 809.0 (47.5%) Kills 693 (51.8%) 646 (48.2%) Aces 41 (42.7%) 55 (57.3%) Digs 600 (34.9%) 1120 (65.1%) Assists 58 (4.7%) 1189 (95.3%)
AVCA Honors CU Volleyball For Academics The Creighton volleyball program was honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as a recipient of the 2009 AVCA Team Academic Award. Creighton previously won the award in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 and are one of nine Division I schools nationwide to win the award in six consecutive campaigns. The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA. Last spring the Bluejay volleyball team posted a combined GPA of 3.41.
Last Year Summary Creighton went 18-9 and narrowly missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays went 15-3 to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference and had a year-end RPI of 46. Korie Lebeda, Amanda Cvejdlik and Jessica Houts were named first-team all-MVC, while Bianca Rivera was a second-team all-Valley selection. Houts was also named MVC Defensive Player of the Year and AVCA honorable-mention All-American.
Radio Broadcast Information Brad Burwell and former Bluejay volleyball player Erin Swanson will broadcast at least 26 matches (14 home, 12 away) this season. The matches will air on KOIL (1180 AM) and KKAR (1290 AM) and be webcast on-line at www.gocreighton.com as well. The pre-match show starts approximately 5-15 minutes before first serve. The post-match show also lasts about 15 minutes and includes post-match interviews. A complete list of remaining matches follows: 2009 Volleyball Remaining Broadcast Schedule Nov. 7 Drake (KOIL) Nov. 10 Saint Louis (KOIL) Nov. 13 Southern Illinois (KOIL) Nov. 14 Evansville (KOIL) Nov. 20 at Northern Iowa (KOIL) Nov. 26-28 MVC Tournament (KOIL)
Creighton Ticket Information Tickets to Creighton’s home regular-season matches are sold at all Ticketmaster outlets. Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for youth (18 years of age or younger) for reserved seats and $7 (adult) and $4 (youth) for general admission seating. Children three and under are admitted free. Season ticket information is available online at www.gocreighton.com or by calling (402) 280-JAYS. Creighton has sold approximately 700 season tickets for volleyball this year.
