2016 Volleyball Recap

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    How do you top the most accomplished season in program history, one that included BIG EAST regular-season and tournament titles and a run to your first Sweet 16? If you're the Creighton Volleyball team, you go one step further.
   Creighton's 2015 was special, but the 2016 season will undoubtedly go down as the program's best in history thanks to a scintillating postseason run that culminated in the team's first Elite Eight appearance. Along the way, the Bluejays became the first team in NCAA history to win its first three postseason matches in five teams.
   The season opened with unprecedented expectations, with Creighton ranked a best-ever 18th in the preseason AVCA poll. A grueling non-conference schedule that featured seven straight NCAA Tournament teams opened the season. The Bluejays went 3-4 in those matches, but included in that stretch were heartbreaking five-set losses to Wichita State, USC and No. 4 Kansas that proved CU could compete against the nation's best.
   CU closed out non-conference play with a 6-6 mark after dropping a four-set contest against defending national champion Nebraska. Creighton had the Cornhuskers on the ropes, squandering three set points to take a 2-1 lead, before falling.
   BIG EAST play opened with a showdown between the top two teams in the preseason league poll, and the Bluejays wasted no time making a statement. Creighton crushed Marquette, allowing the Golden Eagles just one lead all night, and followed it up with a 3-1 win over DePaul two days later.
   The Bluejays would end up becoming the first team to ever finish BIG EAST play 18-0, dropping just five sets the entire league season. Creighton's sternest test came on Senior Day in Omaha, but the Bluejays prevailed in five sets over Villanova in a rematch of the 2015 BIG EAST Championship title tilt.
   Creighton then went to Indianapolis, Ind., for the BIG EAST Championship. Creighton swept Seton Hall in the semifinals, then dispatched Xavier in straight sets in the final, to secure a third straight league postseason title. It made Creighton the first club since Louisville in 2012 to win the BIG EAST Championship without dropping a set.
   The Bluejays narrowly missed a second consecutive national seed, but instead were shipped to Lawrence, Kan., to open the NCAA Tournament. Creighton won its first two sets of the NCAA Tournament against Northern Iowa, only to waste a pair of match points against in the third set. UNI won the fourth set to force a fifth frame, where Creighton prevailed 15-12.
   The First Round victory set up a date with fourth-ranked and No. 5 seed Kansas at sold-out Horejsi Center. Creighton dropped the first set, but just as it did in Omaha on Sept. 8 against the Jayhawks, would rally to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Kansas won the fourth set before the teams played one of the greatest fifth sets in the history of the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays outlasted KU, 20-18, but it required seven match point opportunities before CU would clinch its second straight Sweet 16 berth.
   Creighton then knocked off 12th-seeded and 17th-ranked Michigan in the Regional Semifinal in Austin, Texas, again in five sets. Creighton trailed 2-1 in the match before rallying to win the final two sets to claim its 23rd straight victory. The year ended one night later when No. 4 seed and fifth-ranked Texas swept the Bluejays to close the season.
   Purdue transfer Lydia Dimke made an immediate impact, starting every match at setter en route to BIG EAST Player of the Year honors. She was also named Third Team All-American by the AVCA.
   Dimke had multiple offensive weapons surrounding her, including sophomore outside hitters Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth. Both were named Honorable-Mention All-American by the AVCA.
   Marysa Wilkinson and Lauren Smith teamed to give Creighton two of the BIG EAST's best middles, while freshmen Megan Ballenger and Brittany Witt also made an immediate impact.
   Head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth was named VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, as well as AVCA East Region Coach of the Year, while leading the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year.

TV/Radio/Webcast Broadcast Information
Creighton had 12 matches broadcast on radio this fall, with 11 airing on KZOT (1180 AM), and one airing on KOIL (1290 AM). Brad Burwell, Erin Swanson Russell, Glen Sisk, Rachel Houseman, Rob Anderson and Heather Meek all helped on the broadcasts.
   Creighton also appeared on television five times in 2016, airing on Pac-12 Network at USC, Cox Kansas at Kansas State, NET vs. Nebraska, FS2 in the BIG EAST Tournament title match vs. Xavier and on ESPNU for its Elite Eight match at Texas.
   All but four matches in 2016 (vs. Wichita State, vs. Gonzaga, vs. Montana State, at Butler) were also available via video webcast.

Live Stats Information
All Creighton matches had free live stats in 2016 at www.gocreighton.com.
   Live stats from Creighton's home matches were also available on mobile devices by clicking on www.gocreightonstats.com.

The Coaches
Creighton was coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who finished her 14th season with a 291-153 record with the Bluejays. She's led Creighton to back-to-back-to-back BIG EAST titles, and four league crowns in the last five years. She has led the Bluejays to their first two Sweet 16's and first Elite Eight in program history, and in 2016 was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year.
   The winningest coach in school history, Booth has led Creighton to its only six NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also led the Jays into the top-25 each of the last five years, another program first.
   Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
   Booth was assisted by Ryan Meek, Angie Oxley Behrens and Micah Rhodes.

Some 2016 Highlights
-Creighton was ranked ninth in the final AVCA poll, best in program history.
-Creighton owned a year-end NCAA RPI of 12 best in program history.
-Creighton reached its first Elite Eight in program history.
-Creighton won its third straight BIG EAST regular-season title, and third straight BIG EAST Championship title, going a combined 20-0 against league foes in 2016.
-Creighton won the BIG EAST Conference, the nation's ninth-best league, by five full games in the standings.
-Creighton was the first team in BIG EAST history to advance to a Regional Final. League teams had previously been 0-7 in the Regional Semifinal round.
-The winning percentage of Creighton's opponents (.631) was 11th-toughest nationally.
-Creighton ranked tied for fourth nationally with 29 victories, tied for 16th in road victories and 20th in winning percentage (.806) this season.

Creighton's NCAA Tournament History
Creighton made its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past seven years after earning a fifth straight bid to the Big Dance.
   This was the team's second trip to the Sweet 16, also making it last year after emerging from the Chapel Hill sub-Regional, and first Elite Eight trip.
   The Bluejays are 8-6 in six appearances, and have knocked off the likes of No. 16 Iowa State (2010), Marquette (2012), Arkansas (2013), Coastal Carolina (2015) No. 23 North Carolina (2015), Northern Iowa (2016), No. 4 Kansas (2016) and No. 17 Michigan (2016).
   Creighton is 5-1 in first round play, 2-3 in the second round, 1-1 in the Regional semifinal round and 0-1 in the Regional Final round. The Bluejays are also 6-2 at neutral-site matches and 2-4 in true road matches.
   Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 8-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Super Six
Kirsten Bernthal Booth joined some select company when she directed her troops to a sixth NCAA Tournament. That puts her in the company of some of the greatest coaches in CU Athletics history.
   Booth is one of five head coaches in Creighton history to lead six different NCAA Tournament teams.
Name   Sport   NCAA's @CU
Bob Warming   Men's Soccer   11
Dana Altman   Men's Basketball   7
Brent Vigness   Softball   7
Kirsten Bernthal Booth   Volleyball   6
Elmar Bolowich   Men's Soccer   6
Bret Simon   Men's Soccer   5
Bruce Erickson   Women's Soccer   5
Mary Higgins   Softball   5

Five Straight NCAA's
Not only did Creighton make an unprecedented fifth straight NCAA trip for the volleyball team, but it is the first Creighton women's team in any sport to make five straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

All-Region Picks
Creighton had five All-Region picks, tied for third-most nationally, in 2016.
   Creighton's four first-team choices trailed only Nebraska (6) and Florida (5) and were equal to Kansas, Minnesota and Wisconsin for third-most nationally.
   Creighton is the only team with five first-team All-Region returners for 2017.
School   2016 All-Region   2017 returners
Nebraska   6   3
Minnesota   6   3
Creighton   5   5
Florida   5   4
Kansas   5   4
UCLA   5   2
Wisconsin   5   2
Kentucky   4   4

Creighton In The Top 25
The Creighton Volleyball team finished the 2016 campaign ranked ninth in the final AVCA poll, easily the best mark in program history. Creighton's previous best had been No. 18 in the 2016 preseason poll.
   Creighton was also 12th in the year-end NCAA RPI. That's two spots better than the final RPI mark from 2015, and the fifth straight year with a top-35 RPI to end the fall.
   The Bluejays are 32-10 all-time when ranked, including a 29-4 mark against unranked competition. The year-end poll marked the 20th different week that Creighton has been in the top-25. The 2016 season is the fifth straight season that Creighton has been ranked, after never earning a top-25 nod between 1994-2011.

All-America Honors
Creighton had four different student-athletes earn some sort of All-America recognition following the season.
   Lydia Dimke was named an AVCA Third Team All-American by the AVCA, and an honorable-mention All-America selection by both PrepVolleyball.com and VolleyballMag.com.
   Jaali Winters was named a Second Team All-American by PrepVolleyball.com, a Third Team All-American by VolleyballMag.com and an honorable-mention choice by the AVCA.
   Taryn Kloth was named an honorable-mention All-American by both the AVCA and PrepVolleyball.com.
   Last but not least, Lauren Smith was a First Team Senior CLASS Award All-American.

Witt Recovers From Injury
Brittany Witt missed the final three points of the season after suffering a gruesome eye injury in the season-ending loss at No. 5 Texas.
   Witt was attempting to rise following a diving dig attempt, and instead was caught flush by a teammate's knee who was trying to keep the ball alive.
   Witt broke her nose and suffered an orbital fracture and a laceration that required 13 stitches above her right eye, but is not expected to have any long-term issues.
   Witt led Creighton and all BIG EAST freshmen with 524 digs in 2016 and her 4.09 digs per set also led the team.

Booth Named National Coach of the Year
Kirsten Bernthal Booth was named VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year following the 2016 season, in which she led Creighton to the program's first Elite Eight.
   This is Booth's third National Coach of the Year this decade, as she was previously named National Coach of the Year by CVU.com in 2010 and the CaptainU National Coach of the Year in 2012.
   Booth owns a 291-153 record in 14 seasons as Creighton head coach, and has led the Bluejays to six NCAA Tournaments and four conference titles since 2010.

Statistically Speaking
Creighton finished the season ranked first in the nation with 1,868 kills, third nationally with 1,722 assists and fourth with 14.59 kills per set.
   Individually, Lydia Dimke ranked second nationally with 1,454 assists, just 11 behind the 1,465 by Minnesota's Samantha Seliger-Swenson.

Congrats Come In From All Over
It wasn't long after Creighton's win at No. 4 Kansas before it sent shockwaves across the volleyball landscape.
   Within minutes after the match, US National Team libero Kayla Banwarth had tweeted and fired off a text to Creighton volunteer assistant Micah Rhodes, while US National Team coach Karch Kiraly send a congratulatory text to Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
   Booth's phone had 129 texts and messages waiting for her by the time the team boarded the bus back to Omaha about 45 minutes after the match, not to mention dozens of tweets aimed to her and the program.

Unseeded Teams In The Regionals
Creighton was just the fourth team since 2001 to beat the No. 5 seed in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
   This year marked the 16th straight season that at least 10 seeded teams advanced to the Sweet 16.
   Before Creighton this year, the last team to go on the road on the opening weekend in consecutive seasons and reach the Sweet 16 both times is BYU in 2013 and 2014.
   Exactly one unseeded team has made a Regional Final in five of the last six years, including Hawai'i last year and Creighton in 2016.

Against Tourney Teams
Creighton played a challenging schedule throughout 2016, going 8-7 against teams in the field of 64.
   In those matches, Jaali Winters led Creighton with 3.84 kills per set and was second with 3.33 digs per set. Lauren Smith hit a team-best .308, while freshman Brittany Witt had 12 service aces. Winters had 10 double-doubles in those matches against the best of the best, while Dimke owned nine.

Five Set Recovery
Dating back to early last season, Creighton Volleyball is 10-2 in the match following a five-set contest.
   One of those losses came to end the season against Texas, as CU could not follow up a five-set win over No. 17 Michigan.

High Five
Creighton lost all three matches to go five sets in its pre-conference slate, but finished 4-3 in contests to go the distance thanks to wins in the fifth set in four of its last seven matches.
   The win over Kansas on Dec. 2 was especially impressive, as the fourth-ranked Jayhawks had been 8-0 in five-set matches in 2016, and had not lost a home match all season.
   Creighton is 4-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament games to go five sets.
   The Bluejays were the first team in NCAA Tournament history to reach the Elite Eight via three consecutive five-set victories.
   Creighton had never previously won three straight matches that each went five sets in program history.

Fit To Be Tied
Creighton had some anxious moments before winning in Lawrence during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
   In its First Round win over UNI, the Bluejays squandered two match points after taking a 24-22 lead in the third set, only to play another hour and eventually win a 15-12 fifth set.
   In the Second Round win over No. 4 Kansas, the Bluejays didn't seal the victory until its seventh match point opportunity in the fifth set. CU celebrated when it thought it had won the match at 18-16, only to have a meeting with all four officials lead to the call on match point being overturned when it was determined that Creighton made contact at a net with a ball that sailed long.
   Rather than complain and lose focus, Creighton quickly regrouped, earning a first ball kill, and would eventually win by a 20-18 margin on a Megan Ballenger kill.
   The 20-18 score equalled the highest-scoring fifth set in program history.
   Put another way, how close was the fifth set? In a set typically played to 15 (teams must win by two), the fifth set featured 16 ties and six different lead changes.

Taking The Fifth
Creighton is 48-26 in five-set matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth, including a 4-3 mark this year and a 16-7 home record under Booth in five-setters. That's impressive since Creighton had never finished a season with a winning record in fifth sets prior to Booth's arrival.
   Creighton has won nine of its last 12 true road matches to go five sets, including wins in 2012 over league rivals Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State, wins in 2013 at Denver and at Wichita State, wins in 2014 at Butler and at St. John's, a win last year at Georgetown in 2015, and an NCAA Tournament win at No. 4 Kansas in 2016.
   It's also worth noting that Creighton is 10-3 all-time in five-set home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena.
   Below is a list of Creighton's record in five-set matches on a yearly basis:
Year   Set 5 W-L   Total W-L
1994   0-2   5-20
1995   0-2   11-19
1996   2-6   9-19
1997   3-5   15-13
1998   2-3   7-18
1999   3-3   13-15
2000   3-3   16-12
2001   1-1   14-13
2002   1-3   3-23
2003   5-1   12-18
2004   4-0   18-11
2005   3-1   16-14
2006   4-2   21-10
2007   2-0   21-10
2008   2-3   18-9
2009   1-4   14-17
2010   3-3   21-12
2011   5-2   17-14
2012   4-1   29-4
2013   3-2   23-9
2014   3-2   25-9
2015   5-2   27-9
2016   4-3   29-7
Total   63-54   384-305

23 Straight!
Creighton won 23 straight games before falling in the Regional Final at Texas, a streak that was the longest stretch in program history. That's six more than the previous program record of 17 straight, set in 2012.
   Across all Creighton sports, only the men's basketball team (38 straight from 1917-1920) has posted a longer win streak, though that was nearly a century ago.
   Each of the 10 longest win streaks in Creighton Volleyball history have come under the direction of Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
Most Consecutive Wins, Creighton VB History
       Wins   Dates   Snapped By
       23   Sept. 23 - Dec. 9, 2016   at #5 Texas, 3-0
       17   Sept. 29-Nov. 30, 2012   at #11 Minnesota, 3-1
       12   Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015   at Villanova, 3-2
       11   Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014   Seton Hall, 3-0
       10   Oct. 31-Dec. 5, 2015   vs. #2 USC, 3-1

At Home On The Road
Creighton owns five wins away from home in the last two NCAA Tournaments. Nationally, that's the most in the nation, one more than Hawai'i, Nebraska and Stanford and two more than Florida State.
   Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Texas, Washington and Purdue are the only six schools with at least one road/neutral win in both the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments.

Home At Home
Creighton was 12-1 at D.J. Sokol Arena this fall, with 12 straight wins, and has won 21 straight matches against BIG EAST competition there.
   Below is a look at the program's largest home win streaks in history.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins   Dates   Snapped By
   13   Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013   California, 3-0
   12   Sept. 20 - Nov. 28, 2015   #4 Kansas, 3-2
   12   Sept. 9, 2016 - Present   ? ? ?
   9   Sept. 20, 2014-Nov. 21, 2014   Seton Hall, 3-0
   8   Sept. 25-Nov. 20, 2010   Northern Illinois, 3-0

Home Success
Creighton won each of its final 12 home matches in 2016, which ties it for the eighth-longest active home win streak entering 2017.
   Here's a list of the longest home win streaks:
Rank   Streak   School
   1.   36   Minnesota
   2.   18   Yale
   3.   17   Howard
   4.   13   BYU
       13   Princeton
       13   Nebraska
       13   Hofstra
   8.   12   Creighton
       12   Fairfield
       12   North Carolina
       12   Missouri
       12   Texas
       12   Denver

Attendance Rank
Creighton ranked 37th nationally in average home attendance, bringing in 1,235 fans per home match in 2016.
   This marks the 11th straight campaign that Creighton has finished in the top-50 of that category.

Winters Is Coming
Jaali Winters played some of her best volleyball against the best teams on Creighton's schedule this fall.
   In 20 matches against teams with an RPI of 75 or better this fall, Winters averaged 3.96 kills and 3.19 digs per set. She owned 12 double-doubles in those contests.
   By comparison, in 16 matches against teams with an RPI of 76 or worse, Winters averaged 3.00 kills per set and 2.40 digs per set, finishing with one double-double. Creighton went 16-0 in those matches, dropping just a single set. The Bluejays hit .339 and averaged 2.71 blocks per set as a team in those contests.
   Winters has played in seven career NCAA Tournament matches, and has 20 or more kills in five of those. The other 31 players in Creighton Volleyball history to appear in an NCAA Tournament match have played in a combined 141 matches, and no one else has more than 18 kills in a match.
   Winters owns a Creighton-record 132 career kills in NCAA Tournament play, far ahead of Lauren Smith's 92 that rank second.
   The chart below showcases Winters' rising to the occasion in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Category   Regular-Season   NCAA Tourney
Matches Played   32   4
20+ Kill Matches   3   3
Kills Per Set   3.48   4.39
Hitting Pct.   .220   .225
Digs Per Set   2.84   3.28
Blocks Per Set   0.22   0.50

Jaali Approaches 1,000 Kills
Jaali Winters finished her sophomore season with 994 career kills. That's third-most nationally among active sophomores, and 152nd among active all Division I players nationally.
   Winters was six kills shy of becoming the first sophomore in school history to reach 1,000 career kills.

Winters Owns 20/20 Vision
Jaali Winters had 21 kills and a career-high 25 digs vs. No. 17 Michigan on Dec. 9, her second career match with 20 or more kills and 20 or more digs. She also did it in a Second Round win at nationally-ranked North Carolina last fall.
   Winters is one of four players in school history with a 20/20, joining Melissa Walsh (5x), Leah Ratzlaff (once) and Jess Bird (once).

Where's Wilkinson?
Marysa Wilkinson plays a little bit of everywhere on the Bluejay front line, and took her offense to a new level in the NCAA Tournament.
   The undersized middle blocker had a career-high 18 kills in a first round win over Northern Iowa while hitting a team-best .394.
   In the second round victory against Kansas, Wilkinson had 15 kills on .275 hitting in a career-high 40 swings.
   Wilkinson added 16 kills on .368 hitting vs. Michigan in the Regional semifinal victory.
   Wilkinson has consistently been an "X-Factor" in her career, as CU is 33-0 all-time when she hits .400 or better.

So Good, So Young
Want a scary thought? Of the 10 Creighton women to see time in the Regional Semifinal win over 12th-seeded Michigan, the Bluejays used just one senior (Lauren Smith).
   The remainder of Creighton's line-up that was used included three juniors (Lydia Dimke, Marysa Wilkinson and Kenzie Crawford), four sophomores (Samantha Bohnet, Taryn Kloth, Brittany Lawrence and Jaali Winters) and two freshmen (Brittany Witt and Megan Ballenger).

Diggers Hotline
Northern Iowa entered the First Round match leading the nation in digs per set, but Creighton out-dug the scrappy Panthers 86-71. The 86 digs were CU's fourth-most this season at the time.
   One night later, Creighton outdug Kansas, 79-74.
   Creighton then produced 91 (second-most in 2016) in the win over Michigan in the Regional semifinal.
   Keying Creighton's back row have been Brittany Witt and Kenzie Crawford. Both women had career-highs in the match vs. UNI, as Witt had 32 digs and Crawford added 17. The duo then combined for 33 digs (21 for Witt, 12 for Crawford) against KU and 32 digs (19 for Witt, 13 for Crawford) against Michigan.
   Not to be forgotten in CU's defensive effort was the work being done by six-rotation stars Jaali Winters (2.90 dps.) and Lydia Dimke (2.67 dps.). Winters led all BIG EAST outside hitters in digs per set, while Dimke topped the league's setters in the same category.
   Creighton won the digs battle in 20 of the 23 matches during its winning streak, and was 24-2 this year when outdigging the opposition.

All-Around Excellence
Creighton reached the Sweet 16 not only in women's volleyball, but in men's soccer too.
   Creighton joined Stanford, Washington and North Carolina as the only four schools with a Sweet 16 in both sports this fall.
   Last year, Creighton and Ohio State were the only teams to reach the Sweet 16 in the same two sports.

Against Ranked Teams
Creighton owns just a 7-67 mark against ranked teams all-time, but that includes a healthier 4-5 record in the postseason. Creighton beat No. 16 Iowa State in the First Round in 2010, last year won at No. 23 North Carolina in the Second Round, and won at No. 4 Kansas. and vs. No. 17 Michigan this fall.
   Creighton is 3-6 all-time as a ranked team when facing another ranked team. However, the Bluejays have won 14 sets in those matches, including a 3-1 win over then-No. 13 BYU to open the 2013 season and 3-2 wins over No. 4 Kansas and No. 17 Michigan in this year's Big Dance.
   The win over No. 4 Kansas was the highest-ranked team that Creighton has ever beaten, topping the mark of last year's 3-0 sweep over then-No. 10 Kentucky.
   Creighton's victories over No. 4 Kansas and No. 17 Michigan was the first time in program history that the team has beaten ranked teams in consecutive matches.
   Before 2016, the only previous season that Creighton won multiple matches against ranked teams was in 2015, when CU beat No. 10 Kentucky and No. 23 North Carolina.

Piling Up The W's
Creighton's 29 victories this season tied for the most in program history for a single campaign, as the 2012 team went 29-4.
   The 29 wins are the most by any BIG EAST team since Louisville went 30-4 in 2012.

All Is Right On The Left Side
Taryn Kloth's fortunes changed when she was moved to the left side on September 3rd before CU's match vs. USC.
   Since then, she's had matches of 23 (USC), 15 (No. 4 Kansas), 17 (Chattanooga) and 20 (Villanova) kills. The average of 11.84 kills per match is especially impressive since she entered this stretch with a career-high of 16 kills in the first 34 matches of her career.
   Creighton is 41-5 all-time when Kloth hits .182 or better, 26-2 when she starts, and 46-9 when she has five or more kills in a match.

Back-To-Back-To-Back BIG EAST Champs
Creighton won a third straight BIG EAST Championship title in late November, becoming the first to do so since Louisville won three straight titles from 2008-10.
   It was Creighton's fifth straight league tournament title game appearance dating to the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference title.

All-Tourney History
Lauren Smith made a little bit of history when she was named to the All-Tournament Team at the BIG EAST Championship.
   She became the first player in program history to be named to the All-Tournament Team at three different league championships, as she was previously MVP in 2014 and on the All-Tournament team in 2013.
   Smith was named to 11 different All-Tournament Teams in her career.

Bluejays Collect The Hardware
Creighton had quite a haul of honors as the BIG EAST named its All-Conference Team on Nov. 23rd.
   Lydia Dimke was named BIG EAST Player of the Year, while Kirsten Bernthal Booth leads a staff named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season.
   Booth was the first person to earn consecutive BIG EAST Coach of the Year honors since Notre Dame's Debbie Brown in 2000 and 20001.
   Dimke was Creighton's first BIG EAST Player of the Year in program history, and joined Megan Bober as the only Bluejay volleyball player ever named league Player of the Year. Bober was honored in 2012 by the Missouri Valley Conference.
   In addition to Dimke, Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth were named First Team All-BIG EAST, while Lauren Smith and Marysa Wilkinson were Second Team All-BIG EAST honorees.
   This was the second First Team All-Conference award for Winters, and first for both Dimke and Kloth.
   It was the first time Wilkinson was named to an All-BIG EAST team, while Smith sandwiched a First Team pick in 2015 with second-team honors in both 2014 and 2016.

Title History
Creighton won its fourth regular-season title in program history in 2016. All of those have come in the last five years.
   Creighton's first league title in program history came in 2012, when the Bluejays went 17-1 to win the Missouri Valley Conference title. That team went on to win the MVC Tournament title, as well.
   In 2014, Creighton went 16-2 in league play and swept the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament crowns.
   Last year Creighton went 17-1 to win the BIG EAST, then won a pair of BIG EAST Championship contests to take home a second straight title.
   This year's club also won the regular-season and tournament titles in the BIG EAST.
   Since joining the BIG EAST prior to the 2013-14 school year, Creighton has won BIG EAST regular-season titles in baseball (2014), men's soccer (2014) and volleyball (2014, 2015 and 2016), and BIG EAST Championship titles in volleyball (2014, 2015 and 2016).

Senior Weekend A Success
Creighton honored Jess Bird, Amanda Foje and Lauren Smith following last its Nov. 20 match vs. Villanova as part of the program's annual Senior Day festivities.
   Bird and Foje have been at Creighton for four years while Smith is in her fifth year after redshirting the 2012 campaign. In that time, these women have combined to win 10 regular-season conference titles and 10 conference tournament rings while reaching a pair of Sweet 16's, including one Elite Eight.
   The Bluejays went 133-38 in the past five seasons, including an 80-8 mark in conference play. All five teams have been nationally ranked at some point, and part of the first women's program in Creighton history to appear in five straight NCAA Tournaments.
   Smith and Bird were named BIG EAST Tournament MVP in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and both women have been named First Team All-Conference in past seasons as well as nominees for the Senior CLASS Award. After one ace in 22 matches during her first two seasons, Foje has emerged as a valuable serving weapon for the Bluejays, dealing 28 aces in her last 70 contests.
   All told, the trio combined for 2,126 kills, 97 aces, 1,202 digs and 711 blocks.

Jays Run The Table
One year after setting a BIG EAST record with 17 conference victories, Creighton broke its own BIG EAST record for league wins in a season with 18.
   It's the first team in BIG EAST history to finish 18-0, and Creighton became the first team since Notre Dame's 2001 club to go unbeaten in both BIG EAST regular-season and tournament play.
   Here's a look at the most consecutive wins to start league play in BIG EAST history:
Consecutive Wins To Start BIG EAST Play
   Wins   School   Year   Final W-L
   18   Creighton   2016   18-0
   14   St. John's   2006   14-0
   14   Notre Dame   2009   14-0
   13   Louisville   2007   13-1

Let's Get It Started
Creighton had its third straight start of 5-0 or better in league play after this fall's 18-0 league mark. It's the first time in program history that Creighton has won its first 12 (or more) league matches in a season.
   Below is a list of Creighton's best starts in conference play all-time:
Start   League   Year   Final W-L   Final Place
18-0   BIG EAST   2016   18-0   1st
11-0   BIG EAST   2015   17-1   1st
7-0   MVC   2007   14-4   T-2nd
5-0   MVC   2006   12-6   4th
5-0   MVC   2011   12-6   4th
5-0   BIG EAST   2014   16-2   1st

Back-to-Back-To-Back BIG EAST Champs
Creighton locked up a third straight BIG EAST regular-season title with two wins over Providence on Nov. 11-12.
   St. John's had been the last BIG EAST team to win a share of three straight titles, having done so from 2006-08, while Notre Dame had been the last team to win three or more straight outright BIG EAST regular-season titles, having claimed four in a row from 1999-2002.
   The Irish were also the last team to go unbeaten in league play, having done so in 2009 (14-0).

Automatic Bid x 3
Creighton is one of nine schools nationally to earn an automatic bid into the 2014, 2015 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments. That grouping includes New Hampshire, Dayton, Creighton, Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky, American, Denver and BYU.
   Of those teams, the only six schools to win a conference tournament in consecutive campaigns have been American, Coastal Carolina, Creighton, Dayton, Denver and New Hampshire.

Magic Number Three
Creighton won its third straight BIG EAST regular-season title, and its third straight BIG EAST Championship title in Indianapolis in late November.
   One key reason for the success is the team's performance in the third set. Creighton went 20-0 against league foes in the third set this year. In those 20 matches, the opponent scored 20+ points on just six occasions.
   Dating back to last season Creighton has won 26 straight third sets in regular-season BIG EAST contests, and the team to win the third set has won each of Creighton's last 30 regular-season BIG EAST matches.

125 Straight Starts
Lauren Smith started the final 125 matches of her career, a streak that started Oct. 5, 2013 in a match at Xavier that also doubled as Creighton's first BIG EAST win in program history.
   The streak of 125 straight starts is the second-longest in program history, trailing only former setter Megan Bober (128).
   Smith passed Bober's record for career starts on Nov. 12 vs. Providence when she made her 129th career start, and finished with school-records with 137 career starts, 138 career matches played and 511 career sets played.
   Creighton was 133-38 since Smith enrolled in 2012 with four regular-season conference titles, four conference tournament titles, seven NCAA Tournament victories and five NCAA Tournament bids. Prior to her arrival, Creighton was 251-267 all-time with one NCAA victory and no conference titles in the previous 18 seasons.
Matches Played
       Name   MP   Year
   1.   Lauren Smith   138   2013-Pr.
   2.   Melanie Jereb   133   2012-15
   3.   Ashley Jansen   132   2012-15

Matches Started
       Name   MS   Year
   1.   Lauren Smith   137   2013-Pr.
   2.   Megan Bober   128   2009-12
   3.   Allie Oelke   120   2007-10

Sets Played
       Name   SP   Year
   1.   Lauren Smith   511   2013-Pr.
   2.   Megan Bober   480   2009-12
   3.   Melanie Jereb   471   2012-15

Most Wins, Appeared In As A Player
   Wins   Name   Year
   104   Lauren Smith   2013-Pres.
   102   Melanie Jereb   2012-15
   101   Ashley Jansen   2012-15

Lawrence Gets A Chance
Redshirt sophomore Brittany Lawrence played well down the stretch in the Regional Semifinal win over Michigan, contributing a kill in four swings while also providing a big block in place of Megan Ballenger.
   She then started the Regional Final vs. Texas, finishing with two kills and .143 hitting in seven swings.
   Prior to the final two matches in Austin, Lawrence had not played in a match since November 11th and had not taken four swings in a match since October 8th prior to the Michigan contest.

Assists A'Plenty
Creighton's Lydia Dimke led the BIG EAST and was 12th nationally with 11.36 assists per set. That ranks as the best in school history since the shift to 25-point sets prior to the 2008 season.
   Each of Creighton's last 30 matches have been won by the team with more assists, and Creighton has not lost to a BIG EAST team when owning more assists since Nov. 16, 2013 at Seton Hall. Creighton led the BIG EAST with 13.45 assists per set this season.

Dimke Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
Lydia Dimke was named the BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 7.
   Dimke had a pair of double-doubles to pace Creighton on both ends of the floor as the Bluejays swept Butler and Xavier to tie a BIG EAST record for best league start in history at 14-0. The junior setter averaged 12.00 assists, 3.67 digs and 1.17 kills per set while hitting .400 and setting her offense to .379 efficiency.
   Dimke had match-highs with both 36 assists and 12 digs while adding four kills in seven swings during a 3-0 sweep of Butler on Friday. She set the Bluejay offense to .415 hitting, the fifth-best mark in program history, and her defensive prowess helped hold a Butler team that led the nation in kills to just 25.
   In Sunday's 3-0 sweep of third-place Xavier, Dimke finished with a near-identical line. She had team-highs with 36 assists and 10 digs, and added four kills and an ace. Dimke set her offense to a .347 hitting percentage, but her best moments came in the second set. With Creighton trailing 17-11, Dimke served up five straight points to get CU within one. Later with CU up 23-22, Dimke provided a setter dump from the 10-foot line to key a 25-22 victory that help secure CU's school-record 16th sweep of 2016.
   Dimke's performance over the weekend helped the Ham Lake, Minn., native move into the league lead in assists per set, as she also moved over the 1,000 assist milestone on Nov. 6th.

Ballenger Is Ballin'
Redshirt freshman Megan Ballenger had 27 aces and just 21 service errors in her last 21 matches played.
   Her 39 aces led the BIG EAST Conference, while her 0.38 aces per set was second.
   In league play, Ballenger averaged an even better 0.52 aces per set, and her 25 aces were four more than any other woman in the BIG EAST.
   Ballenger's 39 aces were tied for sixth-most in Creighton history for one season.
Service Aces
       Name   Sets   No.   Year
   1.   Molly Moran   105   59   2000
   2.   Molly Moran   94   47   2001
   3.   Melissa Weisensee   107   45   1995
       Amanda Cvejdlik   116   45   2006
   5.   Nayka Benitez   115   43   2009
   6.   Allie Oelke   107   39   2007
       Nayka Benitez   118   39   2010
       Megan Ballenger   109   39   2016
   9.   Mallory Lahm   105   38   2004
   10.   JoDe Cieloha   99   37   1995

Ballenger Earns Third Weekly Frosh Award
Megan Ballenger was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week for the third time this season on October 31st.
   The Ankeny, Iowa, product previously earned the award on September 12th and September 19th. She was one of five players in the BIG EAST to win multiple Freshman of the Week honors this fall, but the only player with three such honors.
   Ballenger powered Creighton to an undefeated weekend by averaging 3.33 points, 2.17 kills, 1.67 blocks and 1.17 digs per set while hitting .500.
   Ballenger's week started with four kills, three blocks, two digs and an ace in a 3-0 win at Seton Hall. She then hit .727 with nine kills in 11 swings, five digs and a career-high seven blocks in a 3-0 win over St. John's.
   The redshirt freshman led BIG EAST play with 0.52 service aces per set and was 11th with a .318 hitting percentage.

The Champs Are Here
The Bluejays are back-to-back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament champions, the first repeat champs since Louisville won three straight from 2008-2010.
   Creighton is 7-1 all-time in four appearances at the BIG EAST Championships, reaching the final each time.
   Dating back to its Missouri Valley Conference days, this was Creighton's 14th straight appearance in a league tournament after appearing in just 4-of-9 tournaments prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival.

Offensive Juggernaut
Creighton was fourth in the nation in kills per set (14.59), 14th nationally in assists per set (13.45) and 15th in hitting percentage (.273).
   Last year Creighton finished the year ranked second in the nation in assists (1,774) and was third in kills (1,878) while hitting .248 to rank 47th nationally.

Sweep City
Creighton swept 14-of-18 BIG EAST matches, and broke out the brooms in 21 contests overall this fall. In fact, in the month of November, Creighton swept 7-of-8 matches it has played, while the other 23 matches involving league teams saw just six end in three sets.
   The 21 sweeps are the most in one season in Creighton history, eclipsing the 13 sweeps a year ago.
   Even with its Nov. 20th five-set win, Creighton has swept 13 of its last 15 regular-season BIG EAST home matches, and won 48 of its last 51 home sets during conference play.
   Creighton has played 70 regular-season BIG EAST matches in its four-year history in the league, and swept 37 of them, including 24 of its last 36.
   Creighton's pair of 3-0 victories in the BIG EAST Championship made the Bluejays the first team to win the tournament title without dropping a set since Louisville in 2012.

Control In Conference
Creighton went 18-0 in BIG EAST play this season, winning 54-of-59 sets played. Creighton is one of eight teams in the country that went unbeaten in league play.
   On a national basis, Creighton's winning percentage in sets played during league action ranks fifth-best among the unbeaten teams.
Team   League   Sets W-L   Next
Alabama State   SWAC   54-3   Done
Florida A&M   MEAC   30-2   Done
Howard   MEAC   39-3   Done
Western Kentucky   C-USA   42-4   Done
Creighton   BIG EAST   54-5   Done
TAMU-CC   Southland   48-6   Done
Fairfield   MAAC   54-7   Done
Dayton   A-10   42-7   Done

Blue October (And November)
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton has been a solid 39-21 in September, only to take it up a notch in October. CU is 39-4 in October in that same span, and an identical 39-4 in the month of November.
   Creighton has won 21 straight home matches in the month of October dating to a Oct. 15, 2011 loss to No. 12 Northern Iowa.
   Creighton has won 17 straight November matches, with seven of those wins coming in 2015.
   Creighton finished 9-0 in October this year, its second unbeaten October in history (7-0 in 2012). The only other time that Creighton had played nine or more matches and gone unbeaten in any month came in November of 2012, when CU went 9-0.
   The only other October in which CU had won nine or more matches came in 2015, when CU went 10-1.

Another 20 Win Season
Creighton was 29-7 this year, securing 20 victories for the eighth time in the program's modern history. This is the fifth straight year the Bluejays have reached 20 wins.
   When Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired in 2003, Creighton's modern day school record for wins in a season was 16.
   Creighton is one of 19 schools with five straight seasons of 20+ wins (including 2016):
Team   2016 W-L
Nebraska   31-3
Western Kentucky   30-3
BYU   29-4
North Carolina   29-4
Washington   29-5
Creighton   29-7
Kansas   27-3
Florida   27-4
Texas   27-5
Stanford   27-7
American   27-8
Florida State   26-6
Wichita State   24-8
Penn State   24-10
Hawaii   23-6
Kentucky   23-8
Marquette   23-9
Colorado State   21-9
UTSA   20-8

Dimke Surpasses 1,000 Assists
Lydia Dimke reached 1,000 assists at Creighton in the Nov. 6 match vs. Xavier. It took her 26 matches and 88 sets played, third-fastest in team history behind a pair of setters who played in the era when sets were played to 30 points.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Assists (Career)
Name   SP   MP   Date   Opponent
Korie Lebeda   77   23   10/29/05   Missouri St.
Brittany Coleman   86   23   11/01/03   Northern Iowa
Lydia Dimke   88   26   11/06/16   Xavier
Kailey Reyes   97   27   09/04/99   Boise State
Maggie Baumert   103   32   11/29/14   vs. Seton Hall
Megan Bober   106   28   11/20/09   at #21 UNI
Melissa Weisensee   119   35   09/20/95   Wichita State
Michelle Sicner   267   72   10/04/13   at Butler

Any Venue Will Do
Since joining the BIG EAST, Creighton has a .500 record or better at every BIG EAST venue in which it has played.
Site   Creighton W-L
D.J. Sokol Arena (CU)   50-10
Al McGuire Center (MU)   5-1
Hinkle Fieldhouse (BU)   5-1
Cintas Center (XU)   4-0
McGrath-Phillips Arena (DPU)   4-0
McDonough Arena (GU)   4-0
Carnesecca Arena (SJU)   4-0
Alumni Hall (PC)   3-0
Jake Nevin Field House (VU)   3-1
Walsh Gym (SHU)   2-2

Keeping It 100
Creighton had a perfect 100 percent sideout percentage in the third set of its October 16 sweep over Seton Hall. The Pirates served 18 times in that set, and CU won the point each time.
   For the match, Creighton won the point on 38 of Seton Hall's 46 serves, a tremendous 86.4 percent.
   The match vs. Seton Hall is one of just six times in the last five years (635 sets played) that Creighton has had a 100 percent sideout percentage in a set, and first time since the second set of a 25-8 win over Lipscomb on Sept. 11, 2015. Creighton also did it in the fifth set vs. Villanova on Nov. 20th.

Witt Wins BIG EAST Award, Twice
Brittany Witt was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Oct. 10 after helping the Bluejays to road wins at Villanova and at Georgetown. Witt had 33 digs in seven sets and added three aces and a kill in the victories.
   Witt then made it back-to-back weeks with the honor after picking up the award again on Oct. 17th. She averaged 4.33 digs and 1.83 assists per set in sweeps over St. John's and Seton Hall.

Senior CLASS Award Duo
Creighton's Jess Bird and Lauren Smith were among 30 women's volleyball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court that were selected as candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate volleyball. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
   An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
   Creighton was one of three schools with multiple candidates in the round of 30, joining Minnesota and New Hampshire. The BIG EAST had five candidates (Bird, Smith, Seton Hall's Tessa Fournier, Xavier's Abbey Bessler and Marquette's Meghan Niemann), tying the Big Ten for most of any league.
   Smith and Bird were not the first Creighton Volleyball student-athletes to make the Senior CLASS cut in recent seasons, as Melanie Jereb was a candidate last year, Kelli Browning in 2014 and Megan Bober in 2012. Former Creighton men's soccer goalkeeper Brian Holt won the 2011 Senior CLASS Award on the pitch, while ex-Creighton men's basketball standout Doug McDermott won the 2014 Senior CLASS Award on the hardwood.
   The 30 candidates were narrowed to 10 finalists later in the regular season, for a vote among media, coaches and fans. Smith was one of those 10 finalists and named a First Team Senior CLASS All-American at year's end.

Sweep City
Creighton owned 14 3-0 sweeps in 18 BIG EAST matches this season. Creighton's four straight sweeps from Oct. 8-21 (Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall, DePaul) were its first time with four straight sweeps since Oct. 12-26, 2012.
   Creighton then had a school-record stretch of seven straight sweeps snapped on Nov. 20 by Villanova in a 3-2 Bluejay win.
   Creighton's 21 sweeps on the season are a program record, eight more than the 13 achieved last year.

A "Pablo" Picasso
One of the more popular volleyball ranking systems on RichKern.com is the Pablo ranking system, which is best described at http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/PabloFAQ.asp.
   In the Pablo rankings on Selection Sunday, Creighton was 10th, the program's best mark in team history. Creighton finished the year 12th in the Pablo rankings after its NCAA Tournament run.
   By comparison, Creighton was 36th in last year's Pablo rankings on Selection Sunday and got as high as 27th after its Sweet 16 run in the NCAA's.
   The previous high-water mark since 2011 had been 14th on Sept. 10 & 17, 2012, when CU finished 20th at year's end.

Friday's Are For The Jays
Creighton's was unbeatable in 16 Friday matches this season, winning 48-of-53 sets it played.
   Of those 16 wins, six were against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams (Northern Iowa, TCU, Marquette, Villanova, Kansas and Michigan).
   In those 16 matches, Creighton hit a robust .316 while holding foes to .157 hitting. Creighton averages 15.40 kills per set, compared to 10.75 per set against the Jays. On the other six days of the week this season, Creighton hit .243 and averaged 14.03 kills per set while allowing opponents to hit .192.
   Creighton has hit .299 or better in 11 of its last 15 matches played on a Friday, and owns 92 straight wins (on all days of the week) when hitting .300 or better.

Home Sweet Home
Creighton is 34-2 all-time (.944) in regular-season BIG EAST play at D.J. Sokol Arena, falling once each to St. John's (2013) and Seton Hall (2014).
   Since D.J. Sokol Arena opened in 2009, Creighton is 65-7 (.903) all-time in regular-season conference matches in the facility, including 19 straight victories.
   Creighton has won all seven meetings with St. John's since that 2013 upset, and all six encounters versus Seton Hall since dropping the home match in 2014.

Smith Surges Past 1,000 Kills
Lauren Smith registered the 1,000th kill of her career late in the first set of an Oct. 7 at Villanova. She became the 11th player in CU history to reach the milestone, and it came in her 119th career contest.
   Smith finished with 1,160 career kills, seventh-most in Bluejay history.
Creighton's Quickest Players To 1,000 Kills (Career)
Name   MP   Date   Opponent
Melissa Walsh   70   10/15/00   Eastern Illinois
Leah Ratzlaff   76   10/22/04   Missouri State
JoDe Cieloha   83   09/13/97   at Drake
Kelly Goc   87   11/24/06   vs. Northern Iowa
Jessica Houts   90   11/08/08   Illinois State
Leah McNary   96   09/12/14   Pepperdine
Amanda Cvejdlik   99   11/15/08   at Evansville
Shelly Kapler   103   11/18/99   vs. Missouri St.
Allie Oelke   107   10/09/10   Wichita State
Kelli Browning   110   10/26/14   DePaul
Lauren Smith   119   10/07/16   at Villanova

Smith Seeks Passes Blocks, Too
Lauren Smith ended her career with 560 career blocks, third-most in Creighton history behind Jessica Houts and Kelli Browning.
   Among active players nationally, Smith's 560 career total blocks ranked ninth.
Total Blocks
       Name   Sets   BS   BA   Tot.   Years
   1.   Jessica Houts   451   73   536   609   2005-09
   2.   Kelli Browning   424   55   547   602   2011-14
   3.   Lauren Smith   511   61   499   560   2013-Pr.
   4.   Ashley Williams   359   100   347   447   2001-04

Revenge Acquired
Since the start of last season, Creighton is 39-1 against BIG EAST competition, with the lone loss coming last year at Villanova.
   In that contest, Creighton saved six match points before ultimately losing a 19-17 decision in the fifth set. The match featured 37 ties and 15 lead changes.
   Creighton won the rematch four weeks later with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 dismantling of the Wildcats in the BIG EAST Championship finals. VU never led by more than one point in the rematch.
   Creighton is one of nine teams nationally with one or fewer losses against league teams since the start of last year, as seen below.
Team   League W-L   Next
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi   38-0   Done
Dayton   32-0   Done
Creighton   39-1   Done
Arkansas State   36-1   Done
Western Kentucky   36-1   Done
American   35-1   Done
Hawaii   31-1   Done
Coastal Carolina   31-1   Done
Howard   28-1   Done

Booth On The Road
Kirsten Bernthal Booth owns 105 career true road wins in her 14 seasons at Creighton, reaching the century mark with a 3-0 win at Georgetown on Oct. 8th.
   Booth's teams are currently 105-71 in true road matches, including an 85-39 mark in league contests. Booth is 29-5 in BIG EAST road matches all-time.

Smith Named Player of the Week
Senior Lauren Smith was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on Sept. 26. It was Smith's first BIG EAST Player of the Week honor in 2016, and second of her career (Oct. 5, 2015).
   A Lincoln, Neb., native, Smith hit .553 while averaging 3.64 points, 3.29 kills and 0.57 blocks per set in a pair of victories.
    The preseason All-BIG EAST selection started her week with 10 kills in 17 swings, hitting a season-best .588 in a sweep of a Marquette team that was just outside the top-25. She then had a season-high 13 kills on .524 hitting, adding four blocks in a 3-1 win over DePaul.

Let's Compare
Let's take a look at how Creighton's team in 2016 compares to how its first three league champions (2012, 2014, 2015) fared:
Stat   2016   2015   2014   2012
Final W-L   29-7   27-9   23-9   29-4
Postseason   NCAA   NCAA   NCAA   NCAA
Selec. Sun. RPI   17   15   24   26
Kills/Set   14.59   14.01   14.15   13.39
Hitting %   .273   .248   .235   .247
Aces/Set   1.36   1.16   1.14   1.24
Digs/Set   15.98   16.57   16.62   17.32
Blocks/Set   2.12   2.39   2.66   3.06

Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a .500 record or better against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
   The Bluejays finished 2016 with 70 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 14 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
   Creighton is 7-3 against Seton Hall since joining the BIG EAST, and 63-5 against everyone else, including unbeaten records against Xavier (11-0), DePaul (8-0), Georgetown (8-0) and Providence (6-0).
Opponent   Reg. Season   BE Tourney   Total
Butler   7-1   -   7-1
DePaul   8-0   -   8-0
Georgetown   8-0   -   8-0
Marquette   7-1   1-1   8-2
Providence   6-0   -   6-0
Seton Hall   5-3   2-0   7-3
St. John's   7-1   -   7-1
Villanova   7-1   1-0   8-1
Xavier   8-0   3-0   11-0
Total   63-7   7-1   70-8

On A Roll
Creighton won its last six regular-season BIG EAST matches in 2015 and extended that streak to 24 straight with 18 consecutive BIG EAST wins this fall.
   That is the longest league win streak of regular-season matches in program history.
   Nationally, only four teams have active steaks of 28 or more straight victories against conference foes (including league tournament play), a streak led by Dayton (42).
Creighton - Most Consecutive Regular-Season League Wins
   Wins   Dates   Snapped By   League
   24   Oct. 31, 2015-Present   (not yet)   BIG EAST
   14   Sept. 29, 2012 - End of 2012   Never (left MVC)   MVC
   12   Sept. 20-Oct. 25, 2015   at Villanova, 3-2   BIG EAST
   11   Oct. 11-Nov. 21, 2014   Seton Hall, 3-0   BIG EAST
   9   Nov. 4, 2005-Sept. 30, 2006   Northern Iowa, 3-2   MVC
   9   Nov. 17, 2006-Oct. 6, 2007   at Wichita State, 3-0   MVC
   9   Oct. 25, 2008-Sept. 18, 2009   Northern Iowa, 3-1   MVC

Ace Of Jays
Taryn Kloth served 293 times over the final 28 matches. In that time, she has 12 aces and just 13 serving errors. Kloth had a streak of 140 straight serves kept in play between Sept. 10 vs. Chattanooga and October 14 vs. St. John's
   For the season, Kloth had 16 service aces and just 16 serving errors in 383 attempts (95.8%).

Service With A Smile
Creighton served up a season-high 12 aces against DePaul on Sept. 26 and countered that with a then-season-low four serving errors.
   The +8 ace/error differential against DePaul ranks tied for fifth-greatest since the program's 1994 restart, and was the best since a +10 (12 aces, 2 errors) disparity at DePaul on Oct. 3, 2014.
Diff.   Aces   Errors   Opponent   Date
+11   15   4   vs. NE Illinois   9/23/95
+10   12   2   at DePaul   10/3/14
+9   12   3   at Evansville   10/7/94
+9   15   6   UMKC   11/12/95
+8   13   5   at New Mexico   9/4/04
+8   12   4   DePaul   9/25/16

Not Middling Around
Creighton middle blockers Lauren Smith and Marysa Wilkinson have been on an absolute terror over the past 27 matches, which coincides with a visit to their hometown of Lincoln, Neb., for the Ameritas Players Challenge.
   Smith owned 2.40 kills per set and a .370 hitting percentage in that time, while also adding 0.92 blocks per set.
   Wilkinson led CU with 0.95 blocks per set in that time, while also averaging 2.53 kills per set on .358 hitting.
   Creighton was 25-2 in this stretch, with the lone losses being matches at No. 1 Nebraska and No. 5 Texas, while hitting .292 as a team in that span.

Aced That Test
Megan Ballenger went back to serve 28 times on Sept. 25 vs. DePaul, with Creighton winning an astounding 21 of those points.
   Ballenger served up six aces in the match -- tied for sixth in CU history for a single match -- and did not have a service error.
   She's one of three players in CU history with six or more aces in a match, joining Kelli Koochi (7 aces at Indiana State on 10/19/01) and JoDe Cieloha (6 aces vs. Northeastern Illinois on 9/23/95).
   Ballenger's six aces were two shy of Carolyn Decker's single-match record that was set in 2004, and the most by a Bluejay since Michelle Sicner had seven aces vs. McNeese State on Sept. 17, 2011.

Dueling Aces
Creighton had 12 aces on Sept. 25 vs. DePaul, while also surrendering 10 aces to the Blue Demons.
   The 22 combined aces were the most in a Creighton match since Nov. 15, 2002, when Drake had 17 and Creighton had five. That match was the second-to-last before Kirsten Bernthal Booth took over.
   The match vs. DePaul also marked the first time since Nov. 4, 2000 that both teams had 10 or more aces in the same match. Creighton and Evansville both had 10 service winners in that 2000 contest.

Wilkinson's Huge Night
Marysa Wilkinson hit .786 on Sept. 16th in Creighton's win over Montana State, finishing with 12 kills and one error in 14 swings. She added a career-high eight blocks in the sweep.
   The .786 hitting percentage is second-best in program history by a Bluejay with at least 12 kills, trailing only Lauren Smith's .857 (12-0-14) against Providence in 2014.
   Wilkinson was on pace to hit a school-record .923 before her final swing of the match landed inches wide.
Best Attack Percentage (Min. 12 kills)
   .857   Lauren Smith (12-0-14) vs. Providence   10-19-14
   .786   Marysa Wilkinson (12-1-14) vs. Montana St.   09-16-16
   .750   Katy Grady (12-0-16) vs. Auburn   8-30-03
   .750   Abby Baumann (12-0-16) at San Diego St.   9-3-05
   .737   Lauren Bloemke (14-0-19) vs. Evansville   11-4-07
   .733   Lauren Smith (12-1-15) vs. Villanova   11-24-13
   .722   Lauren Smith (14-1-18) vs. DePaul   10-9-15
   .714   Amanda Cvejdlik (15-0-21) vs. Drake   10-3-08
   .684   Kelli Browning (14-1-19) vs. So. Illinois   10-27-12

Challenging Schedule
The NCAA website tracked the nation's toughest schedules played.
   Creighton's opponents were 432-253, and that .631 winning percentage makes it the 11th-toughest nationally.
   Last year Creighton faced the nation's eighth-toughest schedule per the NCAA, with foes going 466-260 (.642) overall.

Ballenger Repeats BIG EAST Honor
Megan Ballenger was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on both Sept. 12th & 19th. Ballenger, a redshirt freshman from Ankeny, Iowa, averaged 3.30 points, 2.50 kills, 1.30 digs, 0.80 blocks and 0.40 aces per set while helping Creighton to a 2-1 record at the Ameritas Players Challenge.
   Ballenger had kills on her first seven swings of a 3-0 sweep over once-beaten Gonzaga, finishing with 13 kills, five digs, four assists, two blocks and a career-high three aces. She also hit a dominating .579 in the match.
   Ballenger contributed six kills, four blocks and three digs on .357 hitting in CU's 3-0 blanking of Montana State in CU's second match that day.
   She closed the weekend with six kills, five digs, two blocks and an ace at No. 1 Nebraska. Ballenger served during a 3-0 run as Creighton rallied from a 21-18 deficit late in the first set of an eventual 25-23 Bluejay victory that snapped NU's 24-set win streak.

Ankeny - Home of the BIG EAST's Best Frosh
Creighton's Jaali Winters and Megan Ballenger were teammates in high school for a bit, and have reunited to win big at the college ranks.
   Combined, the duo from Ankeny, Iowa, have won nine of the last 24 BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors. Winters won six times in the final 11 weeks of 2015, while Ballenger won three of 13 awards this fall.

Home Sweet Home
Creighton went 9-0 at home last season in BIG EAST play, the second time (joining 2012) in the last four years it was unbeaten at home in league play.
   Creighton is 65-7 (.903) in regular-season conference home matches at D.J. Sokol Arena all-time, including a 34-2 mark (.944) against BIG EAST competition. St. John's (in 2013) and Seton Hall (in 2014) own the only victories against CU.
   The Bluejays have had a winning record in conference home matches each of the last 12 seasons. That streak that dates back to its days at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, a site that is currently being torn down.

Select Company
Creighton is one of just 10 schools nationally who have won 23 games or more in each of the last five seasons (including 2016). That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington and Western Kentucky.
   Creighton is also one of 21 teams to have appeared in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments (including 2016). That group features BYU, Colorado State, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Hawaii, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, USC and Washington.
   Throw in five straight NCAA Tournament bids to that group of teams with five straight 23-win seasons and the group narrows to nine teams: That group consists of BYU, Creighton, Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Washington.

Ballenger Wins Weekly BIG EAST Award
Megan Ballenger was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Sept. 12th after averaging 1.73 kills, 2.55 digs, 0.45 blocks and 0.27 aces as Creighton went 2-1 at the Bluejay Invitational.
   Ballenger's week opened with a career-high 16 digs in a narrow five-set loss to No. 4 Kansas. She added a team-high two aces, and also finished with eight kills in 29 swings.
   In a sweep of a TCU team that was receiving votes in the AVCA poll, Ballenger hit .333 and finished with five kills, eight digs and two blocks.
   She closed out her weekend with six kills, four digs, two blocks and an ace on .600 hitting in a 3-0 sweep of defending Southern Conference champion Chattanooga.

Nothing But Time
Creighton has played in 129 matches to last two or more hours until Kirsten Bernthal Booth, but none have been longer than the 2:42 it took to complete its Sept. 3 match at USC. The previous longest contest under Booth was a match vs. Iowa played in St. Louis that took 2:39 to play on Sept. 4, 2010.
   That game was the longest length of a match since Nov. 4, 2000, when CU won at Evansville in a match that took 2:45. Scores of that Bluejay win, played under the old side-out scoring system, were 12-15, 15-13, 15-9, 10-15, 16-14. Creighton radio analyst Erin Swanson Russell started that match and finished with five kills and five digs.
   Booth is 72-57 in matches to crack to the two-hour mark.
   The match vs. USC was the third-longest in school history. In addition to the Nov. 4, 2000 match at Evansville, CU also played a match lasting 2:45 at Indiana State on Oct. 14, 2000.

Coaching Them Up
Lydia Dimke became Creighton's fifth different starting setter on Opening Day in as many years.
   Megan Bober was CU's Opening Day setter in 2012 vs. UCF before Michelle Sicner took over in the 2013 lid-lifter vs. BYU. In 2014 Maggie Baumert started the opener at setter against Lipscomb, while Kenzie Crawford got the call last fall versus Miami (Ohio).
   Bober owns the distinction of being Creighton's last setter to start consecutive season-openers, having done so all four years from 2009-12.
   The revolving door at setter hasn't hurt the team in that time, as each of those five seasons ended in the NCAA Tournament, and four of them saw Creighton win conference titles. Creighton also won four of those five season-opening matches.

The Gauntlet
Creighton's non-conference schedule ranked among the toughest in the nation once again. CU's first seven opponents all reached the NCAA Tournament, and the slate featured a pair of Final Four teams and the reigning national champion.
   All but one (Montana State) of CU's non-conference foes owned a top-90 RPI last season, and nine of the 12 played in the NCAA's.
   Creighton had three non-conference matches against top-10 competition (preseason No. 1 Nebraska, No. 5 Kansas, No. 7 USC), tying it for second-most nationally, and also plays No. 24 Kentucky, as well as vote-getters Wichita State, Iowa State and TCU. Maryland plays four such teams, while Creighton, North Carolina and Texas A&M meet three top-10 teams each prior to league action.
   Creighton is 7-67 all-time against top-25 foes.
   Since the start of the 2012 season, 21 of Creighton's 38 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 128-17 against unranked teams. Creighton has won 24 straight home matches over unranked teams.

Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
Creighton played 17 matches against 2015 NCAA Tournament qualifiers in 2016, going 10-7.
   After going 3-35 against teams coming off NCAA Tournament bids prior to Kirsten Bernthal Booth's arrival, the Jays are 62-84 since.
Year   W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994   0-4
1995   0-2
1996   0-2
1997   0-3
1998   0-5
1999   2-4
2000   0-4
2001   1-6
2002   0-5
2003   0-3
2004   2-2
2005   0-6
2006   4-6
2007   4-9
2008   6-8
2009   1-11
2010   4-7
2011   2-6
2012   8-3
2013   6-6
2014   4-5
2015   11-5
2016   10-7
TOTAL   65-119
TOTAL Under Booth   62-84

Rally Time
Creighton and USC embarked on one of the longest volleyball rallies in recent memory late in the fourth set on Sept. 3rd.
   The rally, which came with CU leading 23-16 in the fourth set, lasted 68 seconds and featured 53 different contacts as the ball crossed the net 16 times in all.
   All 12 women on the court touched the ball at least once, and 11 of the 12 women had multiple touches. Creighton's Lydia Dimke touched the ball 10 different times before the rally ended with a Bluejay attack error.
   The complete rally can be viewed in its entirety at http://tinyurl.com/CU-USC-rally.

Marian Pipeline
This was the 14th straight season that Creighton Volleyball had at least one product of Omaha Marian High School on the roster, as Kelsey O'Connell returns and is joined by freshman Brittany Witt.
   Each of the previous five years, Creighton's year-end leader in both digs and aces has been a player that attended Marian.
   Interestingly, the Bluejays had never had a volleyball player from Marian between 1994-2002. Here's a look at Creighton's pipeline of players from Marian.
2003: Emily Greisch 2004: Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2004: Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2005: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2006: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal, Emily Greisch
2007: Korie Lebeda, Katie Mehal
2008: Emily Crowley, Korie Lebeda
2009: Lisa Greisch
2010: Lisa Greisch, Julianne Mandolfo
2011: Julianne Mandolfo
2012: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2013: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2014: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen
2015: Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen, Kelsey O'Connell
2016: Kelsey O'Connell, Brittany Witt

The Reviews Are In
Creighton's Aug. 28 match vs. Iowa State was Creighton's first it has played using the Challenge Review System, NCAA Volleyball's new instant replay program.
   Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth challenged just one call, an in/out call in the second set with CU trailing 17-12.
   Though the replay review confirmed the original line judge call to put Creighton in an 18-12 deficit, CU would rally to score 13 of the next 17 points to win the second set, and eventually claim a four-set victory.
   For the season, Booth was 5-13 in challenges (0-3 in/out, 0-0 foot fault, 5-6 ball contacting a player, 0-4 net fault).
   Marquette and Creighton were the only BIG EAST schools that used the replay system in their home matches.

Set 1 Result = Match Result
Creighton is 241-28 (.896) overall under Kirsten Bernthal Booth when it wins set one. In that same time span, CU is just 50-125 (.286) under Booth when it drops the first set.
   Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 70-1 in its last 71 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only on Sept. 12, 2015 to Pacific.
   In 2014 Creighton was 20-2 when winning the first set and 5-7 when dropping the opener. Last year's team was 21-2 when winning the first set but 6-7 when it fell behind after the first set.
   This year's team is 24-4 when winning the first set, but 5-3 when losing the first set.

Dimke's Rare 40/20
Purdue transfer Lydia Dimke opened her Creighton career with 41 assists and 20 digs against Wichita State on Aug. 27th.
   Not only did that make Dimke the sixth player in program history with a double-double in her debut, but it also made her the sixth player in program history with at least 20 assists and 20 digs in the same match.
   Dimke was the first player with a 20 assist/20 dig contest since Michelle Sicner (44A, 21D) on Nov. 29, 2013.
   There have been 20 overall 20/20 performances in CU history, including seven each by Melissa Weisensee (1994-97) and Kailey Reyes (1998-2001).
   Dimke became the second player in CU's modern history (since 1994) with a double-double in each of her first two career matches, joining Brittany Coleman in 2003. Coleman had three straight double-doubles to open her career.

Season-Opening No. 18 Was A Program Best
Creighton started the season ranked No. 18 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It was the highest ranking in program history for any week, one spot better than the No. 19 spot it attained twice, including the final poll of 2015.
   Being ranked in the preseason poll is no guarantee of future success, however. In the last nine seasons (including 2016), only 161-of-225 teams (71.6 percent) would be in both the preseason and postseason AVCA Top 25 polls.
   In the last nine years (including 2016), all but 22 teams named in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament (90.2 percent).

Survival of the Fittest
Creighton has won eight matches under Kirsten Bernthal Booth after surviving an opponent's match point. Three of those comeback wins have come against Wichita State.
   On the other hand, Creighton is 291-2 under Booth when it reaches a match point opportunity, falling only when it wasted two match points on Sept. 4, 2010 to Iowa and two other match points on Nov. 1, 2013 in a loss to St. John's.
Surviving Match Points, Under Booth
Date   Opponent   MP(s) Faced   Final Set 5
08/30/03   vs. McNeese State   13-14, 15-16   18-16
10/10/03   Wichita State   13-14   16-14
10/13/06   at Wichita State   12-14, 13-14, 14-15   17-15
09/11/07   at Drake   13-14, 14-15   17-15
08/26/11   vs. UTSA   12-14, 13-14   16-14
11/16/12   at Wichita State   13-14   16-14
09/20/15   Kansas State   23-24 (4th set)   15-13
11/20/15   at Georgetown   23-24, 26-27 (4th set)   15-7

2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 246-9 (.965) all-time when leading a match 2-0, including a 189-3 mark under Kirsten Bernthal Booth. CU's streak of 94 straight wins when up 2-0, dating to September of 2009, was snapped in the Aug. 27 season-opener vs. Wichita State.
   Conversely, the Jays are 12-188 (.060) all-time when trailing a match 0-2, but did have three comeback victories in 2015. CU also rallied from down 0-2 at Butler on Nov. 8, 2014.
   Those 12 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
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

BIG EAST Preseason Poll
For the fourth straight season, Creighton was picked to win the BIG EAST Conference in a preseason poll of league coaches.
   CU was a unanimous choice and received 81 points in the poll and all nine possible first-place votes. Marquette was picked second while Xavier, Villanova and Butler rounded out the top half of the poll.
   Creighton also had three women named to the 12 member on the BIG EAST's preseason all-conference team, as Jess Bird, Lauren Smith and Jaali Winters were all honored. Winters was selected as Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year.
   Creighton has finished in the spot predicted of them or better in the preseason poll in 12 of the past 14 years (including 2016), including seven years (including 2016) where it's finished exactly where it was predicted.
Year   Preseason Pick   Finish   Move
1994   11th   9th   #2
1995   9th   7th   #2
1996   9th   6th   #3
1997   8th   3rd   #5
1998   6th   8th   i2
1999   T-7th   5th   #2
2000   4th   T-4th   - -
2001   2nd   4th   i2
2002   7th   9th   i2
2003   9th   T-5th   #4
2004   5th   5th   - -
2005   5th   5th   - -
2006   4th   4th   - -
2007   3rd   T-2nd   #1
2008   3rd   2nd   #1
2009   4th   T-4th   - -
2010   4th   3rd   #1
2011   3rd   4th   i1
2012   4th   1st   #3
2013   1st   T-2nd   i1
2014   1st   1st   - -
2015   1st   1st   - -
2016   1st   1st   - -

Offensive Production Returned
Creighton ranked among the nation's most potent offensive teams last year. The Bluejays ranked third in the nation in kills, and return 94.7 percent of those terminations.
   Creighton also finished second nationally in assists in 2015, fifth in attack attempts and sixth in digs.
   In all, Creighton returns 11-of-16 letterwinners to the court from last season, including four starters. Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat   Returners   Departures
Kills   1779 (94.7%)   99 (5.3%)
Points   2122.0 (90.2%)   231.5 (9.8%)
Blocks   275 (85.8%)   45.5 (14.2%)
Matches Started   132 (73.3%)   48 (26.7%)
Digs   992 (44.7%)   1229 (55.3%)
Aces   68 (43.9%)   87 (56.1%)
Assists   548 (30.9%)   1226 (69.1%)

Players Mentioned

Megan Ballenger

Jess Bird

Samantha Bohnet

Kenzie Crawford

Lydia Dimke

Amanda Foje

Taryn Kloth

Brittany Lawrence

Kelsey O'Connell

Lauren Smith

Marysa Wilkinson

Jaali Winters

Brittany Witt

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