Friday, August 29
Madison, Wis.
8:30 PM
Creighton University
vs
Texas
#12 Volleyball Heads to Madison to Meet #5 Texas; #14 Kansas
8/26/2025 11:36:00 AM | Volleyball
Bluejays continue non-conference gauntlet
Opening Spike Classic
Match #2: #5 Texas vs. #12 Creighton • Madison, Wis. • Friday, Aug. 29 • 8:30 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | UT NOTES |
Match #3: #14 Kansas vs. #12 Creighton • Madison, Wis. • Sunday, Aug. 31 • 3:30 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | KU NOTES |
This Weekend
No. 12 Creighton Volleyball (0-1) closes out August with a pair of Top 15 opponents this weekend at the Opening Spike Classic in Madison, Wis.
The Jays face No. 5 Texas (0-0) on Friday night at 8:30 p.m., then take on No. 14 Kansas (1-1) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Kohl Center (17,071) will host the action.
Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend will be nationally-televised on BTN, with Chris Vosters and Mac Podraza on the call.
The matches will also be video webcast at http://foxsports.com/live/btn, though cable authorization may be required.
Live Stats Information
Both CU matches will have free live stats available at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
A link will also be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #12 Creighton
Ranked 12th in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll, Creighton returns three starters among 11 letterwinners from last year's team that went 32-3 and reached the Elite Eight. CU opened the season last Saturday against No. 2 Penn State, falling 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 27-25) to the defending champions in a competitive match that featured 20 ties and five lead changes.
Though All-Americans Kendra Wait, Norah Sis, Maddy Bilinovic and Elise Goetzinger have graduated and legendary head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth took a job with LOVB Nebraska, the expectations for the 11-time defending BIG EAST champion Bluejays haven't changed.
Reigning AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Brian Rosen was promoted to head coach after three seasons assisting Booth, and he'll rely on senior starters Ava Martin (3.66 kps., .312%, 0.48 saps. last year) and Kiara Reinhardt (1.48 bps., 1.43 kps., .296%) to lead a talented group.
Jaya Johnson (1.69 kps., .322%), Sydney Breissinger (2.02 dps., 0.31 saps.), Destiny Ndam-Simpson (1.53 kps.), Sky McCune (0.30 dps.) and Alivia Hausmann (0.22 saps.) have all played on a regular basis in the past and will look to take the next step in 2025.
Creighton also picked up transfers Eloise Brandewie (Ohio State), Saige Damrow (Wisconsin), Ivy Leuck (Omaha) and Annalea Maeder (California) in addition to adding freshmen Abbey Hayes and Ashlyn Paymal. All but Maeder enrolled in January and practiced with CU in the spring.
CU averaged 14.39 kills, 1.91 aces, 14.31 digs and 2.69 blocks per set and hit .324 last season.
Scouting #5 Texas
Texas will be making its 2025 regular-season debut on Friday, though the Longhorns did defeat Utah in an exhibition match on Aug. 15.
UT went 20-7 last season after losing in the Regional Semifinal to Creighton, snapping its quest for a third straight national title. The Longhorns were ranked 11th in the year-end AVCA poll, its first time finishing outside the Top 25 since 2005.
Last year's Longhorn team was led by 2023 VolleyballMag.com National Player of the Year Madisen Skinner, who averaged 4.35 kills per set on .277 hitting before moving on to LOVB. Also gone are blocks leader Marianna Singletary (1.38 bps.) and assist leader Averi Carlson (8.46 aps.).
That being said, the cupboard is far from bare on the Forty Acres, as UT brings back digs and aces leader Emma Halter (3.47 dps., 0.30 saps.), 2023 national champion setter Ella Swindle (9.54 aps. in 2023) and Ayden Ames (1.56 kps., .359%, 0.92 bps.).
Among one of the nation's top classes of newcomers is Pitt transfer Torrey Stafford (3.70 kps., .358%), a First Team All-American a year ago, former Indiana libero Ramsey Gary (4.06 dps.) and incoming freshmen and USA U21 National Team members Abby Vander Wal and Taylor Harvey.
Series History vs. Texas
Creighton and Texas have split two previous matches, both of which have taken place on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2016, Texas swept Creighton in the Elite Eight in Austin (25-19, 25-20, 25-11). Last year at Penn State, the Bluejays beat the Longhorns in four sets (24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20) to end UT's hopes for a three-peat.
Brian Rosen is 0-0 all-time against Texas. Longhorns coach Jerritt Elliott is 1-1 all-time against Creighton but never faced Rosen.
Scouting #14 Kansas
Ranked No. 14 in the preseason AVCA poll, Kansas is 1-1 after splitting five-set results against first-year program Vanderbilt (W 3-2) and defending national champion and second-ranked Penn State (L 3-2). The Jayhawks were 25-5 last season, losing at home in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in five sets to Florida.
Reese Ptacek (2.40 kps., .278%, 1.50 bps.) leads the team in kills, while Selena Leban (2.86 kps., .385%) and Rhian Swanson (3.60 kps., .333%) made a huge impact in the near-upset against Penn State.
Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Jovana Zelenovic (2.10 kps., 1.60 bps.) and Ryan White (3.30 dps.) spearhead the defense, while Katie Dalton (5.40 aps.) and Cristin Cline (7.80 aps.) have each made one start each at setter.
Cline, Ptacek and Zelenovic were all named Preseason All-Big 12 for a KU team picked to finish second in the Big 12.
Overall, the Jayhawks average 12.30 kills, 11.40 digs, 3.10 blocks and 1.00 aces per set while hitting .245 as a team.
Series History vs. Kansas
Kansas owns a 9-4 lead in the all-time series against Creighton, but the teams have never met on a neutral floor. Creighton swept the No. 10 Jayhawks (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) last season in Lawrence to hand KU its first loss of 2024.
Brian Rosen has never faced Kansas nor Matt Ulmer. Ulmer has never faced Creighton. Both men are in their first season after replacing a legendary head coach.
Creighton Coaches
Brian Rosen was named the fourth head coach in modern Creighton Volleyball history on April 6, 2025, as he was promoted following the departure of 22-year head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. He is 0-1 as Creighton head coach after last Saturday's loss to No. 2 Penn State.
Named the 2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Rosen served as a Creighton assistant from 2022-24, during which time CU went 88-13, swept the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament tiles each fall, and defeated 10 Top 25 opponents.
The 2008 South Carolina grad went 45-17 as head coach at Division II Nova Southeastern from 2019-21, though the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19 without playing a match.
Rosen is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Adam Kessenich and Izzy Ashburn.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 32-3 last season and were ranked sixth in the year-end AVCA poll, with both milestones being program-bests. All three of CU's losses came against eventual Final Four teams, and each were on the road and in five sets.
CU swept South Dakota and Ole Miss at home in the NCAA Tournament to finish 19-0 at D.J. Sokol Arena and reach the Sweet 16, where it then knocked off two-time defending national champion Texas to earn an Elite Eight date with eventual national champ Penn State.
Kendra Wait repeated as BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Setter of the Year, while becoming the first athlete in CU history to be named both First Team All-American on the court/field and First Team Academic All-American in the same season. Norah Sis picked up her third AVCA All-America accolade and Ava Martin her second, while transfers Maddy Bilinovic and Elise Goetzinger were also recognized as CU led the country with five All-Americans.
The Jays went 20-0 against BIG EAST foes, dropping just three sets, en route to their 11th consecutive regular-season league title.
In her final season on The Hilltop, Kirsten Bernthal Booth was named AVCA West Region Coach of the Year and led the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year, which also included 2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Brian Rosen.
With A Win...
With a win on Friday...
- Creighton would improve to 2-1 all-time against Texas, joining Florida, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Pacific, Penn State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford, UCLA and Utah State as the only teams to have a winning record against Texas (min. 3 meetings).
- Creighton would improve to 31-90 all-time against Top 25 teams, and 12-40 against Top 10 opponents.
- Creighton would defeat a ranked team for the 11th straight season.
- Brian Rosen would become the first person to have his/her first victory as Creighton head coach come against a Top 25 opponent since Johnny Torres led the men's soccer team to a win over No. 21 Akron on Sept. 6, 2019.
- Brian Rosen would become the only head coach in Creighton history to pick up their first win at the helm over a Top 10 team. Currently the best "first win" spot is reserved for Cathy Klein, who led the Bluejay women's soccer team to a 1-0 win vs. No. 12 Wisconsin on Sept. 3, 1994.
The Return To Mad-Town
Creighton has played annually at Marquette since joining the BIG EAST in 2013, but has never played a match in Madison.
This year is as good as any to head to the capital city of America's Dairyland as four women have a connection to the state.
Sophomore Saige Damrow spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons playing for Wisconsin, splitting time between the libero and defensive specialist positions and collecting 127 career digs. She is a native of Howards Grove, Wis., where she won four state titles as a prep.
Assistant coach Izzy Ashburn played five seasons for Wisconsin as a setter from 2019-23. She owns Badger career records for aces (187), matches played (151) and sets played (527). A two-time team captain, Ashburn led UW in assists each of her final two seasons and notched 19 career double-doubles. Wisconsin went 132-19 with Ashburn, reaching four Final Fours and winning the 2021 NCAA title in a contest that saw her serve a match-leading four aces.
CU also boasts two other Wisconsin natives. Sixth-year senior Kiara Reinhardt hails from the northern Milwaukee suburb of Cedarburg, while sophomore Sophia Wendlick is from Milwaukee.
Martin Steps Up
Ava Martin led all players with 19 kills on Saturday against No. 2 Penn State, an impressive showing by the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year that led Brian Rosen to call her "the best player on the floor" in the post-match press conference.
Martin's 19 kills were the most by any Bluejay in a season-opener since All-American Jaali Winters opened her senior season with 25 kills vs. No. 5 Kentucky in 2018.
Martin's 19 kills are the second-most ever by a Bluejay in a three-set match against a Top 25 team, as Melissa Walsh had 20 at No. 24 Kansas State on Sept. 14, 1999.
Martin's 19 kills were her most ever in a three-set match, and third-most by a Bluejay since the rally-scoring era went to 25-point sets in 2008.
Of the 67 three-set matches played by Penn State the previous five seasons, no player had owned more than 17 kills against the Nittany Lions. The last PSU opponent to do so was two-time National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer, who had 24 in a Regional Final victory on Dec. 14, 2019.
Though it's extremely early, Martin leads the nation with 6.33 kills per set.
I Know What You Did This Summer
Ava Martin (and former Creighton All-American Norah Sis) spent the end of July with USA Volleyball's Women's U23 National Team, helping the squad to the Gold Medal at the Pan American Cup. Martin, in fact, was behind the service line for the point that won the championship.
Among the alternates on the team were the Texas tandem of Ella Swindle and Devin Kahahawai, as well as former Longhorn Marianna Singletary.
Another former UT standout, Averi Carlson, was one of the participants on the squad, though she is now enrolled at SMU.
Finding The Win Column
Creighton had won five straight season-openers before last Saturday's setback to No. 2 Penn State, which also marked the first time the Jays were swept in a season-opener since 2008 (No. 16 Minnesota).
Creighton has not started 0-2 since 2019, when it lost to No. 2 Nebraska and No. 20 Baylor.
Creighton has not lost its first three matches since beginning 0-9 in 2002.
Damrow Digs It
Saige Damrow's 15 digs vs. Penn State were tied for the fifth-most in Creighton history in a debut, and the most since Brittany Witt (21) and Lydia Dimke (20) in 2016.
Damrow's 15 digs tied Nayka Benitez (in 2009) for the most digs in a CU debut that was a three-set match.
Saturday was the 14th time in Damrow's career that she'd played three sets or less in a match, but the first time she's had double-figure digs in one of those contests.
Accomplished Coaches, Then and Now
Creighton head coach Brian Rosen and Kansas head coach Matt Ulmer are both first year head coaches at their schools, but each man has long been respected in volleyball circles. Both were members of the AVCA's prestigious Thirty Under 30 list in 2013.
At the time, Rosen was the head coach at Charlotte (NC) Country Day School, while Ulmer was the head sand coach and indoor assistant coach with Long Beach State.
Other prominent names recognized in 2013 included current head coaches Erin Virtue (Michigan) and Christy Pfeffenberger (Xavier)
Coaching Debuts
Brian Rosen is Creighton Volleyball's fourth head coach since it reinstated the program in 1994 following Ben Guiliano (1994-96), Howard Wallace (1997-2002) and Kirsten Bernthal Booth (2003-24).
Guiliano swept Chattanooga in his debut on Sept. 2, 1994 at the Tulane Invitational in New Orleans, La.
Wallace swept Kansas City at the Creighton First Serve Festival in Omaha by a 15-5, 16-14, 15-9 count.
Booth lost a four-set match (30-23, 30-32, 30-26, 30-24) to Iowa State on Aug. 29, 2003 at the Iowa State Heritage Classic in Ames before sweeping Auburn in her second match to claim her first Division I victory.
Ranked Debuts
Brian Rosen is the first person in any sport to lead a ranked Creighton team in his head coaching debut on The Hilltop since Elmar Bolowich took over the No. 10 Bluejay men's soccer program in 2011. Bolowich led that squad to the 2011 College Cup and year-end No. 4 ranking.
Rosen was also be Creighton's first head coach in any sport to debut against a ranked team since men's soccer coach Johnny Torres tied No. 6 North Carolina on Aug. 30, 2019. Rosen was CU's first coach to start off against a top-five team.
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 12 conference regular-season titles. All but three of Creighton's 12 crowns were outright titles, whereas WKU has shared five. Texas has won 11 titles in that time.
Creighton has also won 11 conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2024
Regular-Season League Tournament
12 (3 shared) Creighton 11 Creighton
12 (5) Western Kentucky 10 Western Kentucky
11 (1) Texas 9 Dayton
11 (1) Fairfield 9 Fairfield
9 (8) Florida A&M
9 (5) Yale
9 (1) Colorado State
Two Of The Best
Creighton and Texas have been two of the nation's best teams over the past decade.
In the previous 10 seasons, Creighton's 267 victories are fourth-most nationally, one spot ahead of Texas' 260. In that same decade, Texas leads the nation with a .878 win percentage (260-36), with Creighton sixth at .829 (267-55).
Narrow the window to the last five seasons and Creighton is tied for fifth with 131 victories, while Texas is seventh with 130 triumphs. When it comes to win percentage in the previous five years, Texas is first at .890 (130-16) and Creighton is sixth at .862 (131-21).
KC's Finest
Several of Creighton's most decorated players have direct connections to Kansas.
Ava Martin (Overland Park), Ava TeStrake (Olathe) and Jaya Johnson (Olathe) are all from the Kansas City-metro area.
Ava Martin's father Chris Martin played in 29 games with Kansas basketball from 1997-99.
Formula Failure
Creighton has had a ton of success through the years by dominating a number of statistical categories, which generally leads to victory.
Creighton had a number of long streaks snapped on Saturday, and also had a number of trends from 2024 reversed.
Streaks Snapped on Saturday
- 49 straight match wins in matches to last 4 sets or less
- 42 straight wins in matches that were exactly 3 sets
- 26 straight wins when CU has more aces than errors
- 25 straight wins when Ava Martin hit .237 or better
- 25 straight wins after a loss
- 25 straight wins in the second set
2024 Trends That Didn't Hold Up on Saturday
- 102-1 in sets when owning a set point last year (0-1 Sat.)
- 63-5 last year when winning first point of a set (0-3 Sat.)
- 20-0 last year when Ava Martin hit .300 or better (0-1 Sat.)
- 9-1 last year in sleeveless white uniforms (0-1 Sat.)
- 8-4 in sets decided by exactly 2 points last year (0-1 Sat.)
- 5-2 in sets going beyond 25 points last year (0-1 Sat.)
Hello World!
One transfer (Abby Leuck) and one Bluejay true freshman (Ashlyn Paymal) could make their Creighton debuts this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the cases of Brandewie, Damrow, Leuck and Maeder).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders or career runner-ups for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Brittany Witt and Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2024 Jaya Johnson 3 11 1 19 .526 0 0 5 0
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2023 D. Ndam-Simpson 3 5 2 10 .300 0 0 3 1
2025 E. Brandewie• 3 5 0 11 .455 1 0 1 2
2022 Ava Martin 1 3 0 4 .750 0 0 0 1
2023 Eloise Brandewie$ 3 2 2 9 000 0 0 1 3
2025 Abbey Hayes 2 1 3 7 -.286 0 2 4 0
2023 Ava TeStrake 2 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 0 0
2022 Sky McCune• 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 5 0
2023 Sydney Breissinger 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 7 0
2024 Alivia Hausmann 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2023 Ivy Leuck% 3 0 1 1 -1.000 8 0 1 0
2024 Sophia Wendlick 2 0 1 4 -.250 0 0 0 0
2024 Emersen Strain 2 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2023 Saige Damrow# 3 0 0 0 --- 5 0 4 0
2021 Annalea Maeder!• 2 0 0 2 .000 8 1 0 0
2024 Nora Wurtz• 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2025 A. Maeder• 3 0 2 4 -.500 34 1 6 1
2025 Saige Damrow 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 1 15 0
#Damrow's stats from debut at Wisconsin in 2023
$Brandewie's stats from debut at Ohio State in 2023
%Leuck's stats from debut at Omaha in 2023
!Maeder's stats from debut at Cal in 2021
140 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked 12th in the preseason AVCA poll, the 140th time in program history it's been ranked. That's 39th-most of all programs in NCAA history.
All 140 rankings have occurred since 2012.
The Bluejays are one of 13 schools (along with Baylor, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 63 polls.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 12th in the AVCA preseason poll on Aug. 7th. It's the 11th time in the past 13 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason, and fourth year in a row.
The No. 12 slotting tied last year's team for the second-best preseason ranking in program history, trailing only the 2017 team that was ranked ninth.
Over the previous 17 seasons, 315-of-425 teams (74.1 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and in the 17 seasons from 2008-2024, 385-of-425 teams (90.6 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but preseason No. 19 Arkansas and No. 25 Georgia reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 14th straight season that CU has been ranked at least one week, extending a program record.
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final Rank
2013 25th 23-9 NR
2014 23rd 25-9 NR
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th 25-6 16th
2020 16th 12-4 NR
2022 18th 27-5 21st
2023 18th 29-5 15th
2024 12th 32-3 5th
2025 12th TBD TBD
Top 10 Wins
Creighton owns 11 Top 10 wins in program history, all of which have taken place in the previous 10 seasons.
All but one of the those Top 10 wins have taken place away from home, including wins over No. 6 Purdue and No. 10 Kansas on back-to-back days last September in Lawrence, Kan.
Creighton owns four top-five wins in program history, and all of those were away from home.
The highest-ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten was No. 3 Washington (8/26/17) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21).
Creighton's Top 10 Wins
Date Opponent Score
09/05/15 vs. #10 Kentucky (at UNI) W 3-1
12/02/16 at #4 Kansas W 3-2
08/26/17 at #3 Washington W 3-1
09/09/17 at #7 Kansas W 3-0
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky (at USC) W 3-2
10/12/19 at #10 Marquette W 3-2
11/09/19 #9 Marquette W 3-1
09/04/21 at #3 Kentucky W 3-0
09/16/23 at #9 Minnesota W 3-2
09/20/24 vs. #6 Purdue (at Kansas) W 3-1
09/21/24 at #10 Kansas W 3-0
Top Five, Back-To-Back?
Creighton will be playing its second straight Top 5 opponent this season, and third in a row dating to last year's season-ending loss at No. 2 Penn State.
It's the first time ever that Creighton has played two or more consecutive contests against top-five opposition.
Add in last year's season-ending matches against No. 13 Texas and No. 2 Penn State, plus this year's opening matches vs. No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Texas and No. 14 Kansas and it'll mark the first time ever that CU has played five Top 25 foes in a row.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 231-49 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 25-29 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark is 4-4 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 44 of Creighton's 78 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 314-34 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 122 home matches over unranked teams and all but 13 of its last 175 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 25-29)
Home: 10-9 Away: 8-12 Neutral: 7-8
Date Winner Loser CU Score
11/19/12 #11 Minnesota #21 Creighton 1-3
08/30/13 #25 Creighton #13 BYU 3-1
09/14/13 #11 UCLA #24 Creighton 1-3
09/16/13 #7 Hawaii #23 Creighton 2-3
08/30/14 #22 Kansas #23 Creighton 1-3
09/03/16 #23 Kentucky #22 Creighton 0-3
12/02/16 #21 Creighton #4 Kansas 3-2
12/09/16 #21 Creighton #17 Michigan 3-2
12/10/16 #5 Texas #21 Creighton 0-3
08/26/17 #9 Creighton #3 Washington 3-1
09/01/17 #7 Creighton #13 Kentucky 3-0
09/02/17 #18 USC #7 Creighton 0-3
09/08/17 #17 Purdue #9 Creighton 1-3
09/09/17 #9 Creighton #7 Kansas 3-0
09/16/17 #19 Iowa State #8 Creighton 2-3
12/12/17 #12 Michigan St. #15 Creighton 1-3
08/24/18 #13 Creighton #5 Kentucky 3-2
08/25/18 #10 USC #13 Creighton 2-3
09/06/18 #7 Nebraska #14 Creighton 2-3
09/15/18 #8 Illinois #10 Creighton 1-3
09/23/18 #10 Creighton #21 Marquette 3-0
10/26/18 #10 Creighton #18 Marquette 3-1
11/24/18 #9 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-1
12/01/18 #22 Washington #9 Creighton 0-3
08/30/19 #2 Nebraska #18 Creighton 1-3
08/31/19 #20 Baylor #18 Creighton 0-3
09/06/19 #23 Creighton #12 Kentucky 3-1
09/07/19 #23 Creighton #15 USC 3-1
09/14/19 #12 Washington #17 Creighton 1-3
10/12/19 #13 Creighton #10 Marquette 3-2
11/22/19 #12 Creighton #9 Marquette 3-1
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
09/02/22 #17 Creighton #25 USC 3-1
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky #17 Creighton 1-3
09/07/22 #2 Nebraska #17 Creighton 2-3
10/14/22 #21 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-2
11/19/22 #16 Marquette #11 Creighton 0-3
11/26/22 #15 Creighton #14 Marquette 3-2
08/26/23 #18 Creighton #16 Purdue 3-0
09/06/23 #4 Nebraska #16 Creighton 1-3
09/16/23 #14 Creighton #9 Minnesota 3-2
11/05/23 #17 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-0
12/07/23 #7 Louisville #17 Creighton 2-3
09/05/24 #11 Creighton #20 USC 3-1
09/10/24 #5 Nebraska #9 Creighton 2-3
09/15/24 #4 Louisville #9 Creighton 2-3
09/20/24 #9 Creighton #6 Purdue 3-1
09/21/24 #9 Creighton #10 Kansas 3-0
12/13/24 #6 Creighton #13 Texas 3-1
12/15/24 #2 Penn State #6 Creighton 2-3
08/23/25 #2 Penn State #12 Creighton 0-3
Against Ranked Foes
After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the previous 10 seasons (2015-24).
Creighton is 30-90 all-time against ranked teams, with all 30 wins coming under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
Last year was the eighth season that CU owned multiple Top-25 victories. The Jays beat three Top 25 teams in 2017, 2022 and 2023, and a record four in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Put It In Neutral
Creighton went 4-0 on neutral floors last season (including wins over #6 Purdue and #13 Texas), continuing a trend of playing well at neutral sites.
Including last Saturday's loss to Penn State, the Bluejays are 20-3 in the last five seasons on neutral floors, including a 7-0 mark in 2021, a 4-0 record in 2022, a 5-2 record in 2023, a 4-0 record in 2024 and an 0-1 mark this fall.
Included in that stretch are neutral-site wins over USC (2021), Northern Iowa (2021 and 2024), Iowa State (2022 & 2023), Florida State (2022), Kansas State (2022), Loyola Chicago (2023), High Point (2023), St. John's (2023), Rice (2024), Purdue (2024) and Texas (2024).
Crowded House
The crowd of 10,438 inside Pinnacle Bank Arena marked the largest crowd Creighton has ever played in front of for a road or neutral-site match.
CU's Sept. 16 home match vs. Nebraska is expected to challenge the NCAA regular-season indoor volleyball-only attendance record of 17,037. At one point, Wisconsin held that record after hosting 16,833 fans inside Kohl Center during a 2023 match against Florida. Current Creighton assistant coach Izzy Ashburn had nine digs as well as team-bests with 21 assists and one ace in that contest while playing for the Badgers.
Let's take a closer look:
Largest Home Crowds
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
15,797 #2 Nebraska 09/07/22 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
14,022 #7 Nebraska 09/06/18 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CHI Health Ctr.
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
Largest Away/Neutral Crowds
Att. Site Date CU Result
10,438 vs. #2 Penn State (at Neb.) 08/23/25 L 0-2
8,924 at #5 Nebraska 09/10/24 L 2-3
8,656 at #4 Nebraska 09.06/23 L 1-3
8,627 at #5 Nebraska 09/29/02 L 0-3
8,450 at #2 Nebraska 08/30/19 L 1-3
8,277 vs. Montana St. (at Neb.) 09/16/16 W 3-0
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-19 letterwinners to the court from last season, including three starters.
From last year's team, Norah Sis, Elise Goetzinger, Kendra Wait, Abbey Milner, Maddy Bilinovic, Audrey Clark, Katie Maser and Emma Ziegler are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 294.5 of a possible 700% back (42.1 percent), the smallest amount returning since it headed into Howard Wallace's final season in 2002.
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 119 (7.6%) 1,450 (92.4%)
Aces 115 (51.3%) 109 (48.7%)
Digs 598 (35.7%) 1,076 (64.3%)
Points 1,115.5 (50.2%) 1,107.0 (49.8%)
Kills 843 (50.1%) 841 (49.9%)
Matches Started 104 (49.5%) 106 (50.5%)
Blocks 157.5 (50.1%) 157.0 (49.9%)
Beginning With The End
This year marked the first time that Creighton Volleyball will open the fall with the same opponent (Penn State) that the Bluejays ended the previous season against.
Even stranger is that Creighton's next opponents (Texas, Friday in Madison) was also Creighton's second-to-last opponent a year ago.
One Tough Schedule
Of Creighton's 12 non-conference matches, seven are against ranked teams and three others against programs that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.
Creighton is the only team in the preseason Top 25 with 10 or more non-conference matches against teams getting votes, as Texas and TCU are next-closest with eight each.
A Bunch of Winners
Creighton's 32 victories last season were fourth-most in the country, trailing only Final Four qualifiers Penn State (35), Pittsburgh (33) and Nebraska (33).
Creighton's three losses last fall were tied for the third-fewest in the nation, one more than Penn State and Pittsburgh's two losses.
When it comes to sets, Creighton's 102 sets won were tied for second-most in the nation (Penn State had 105), while its 15 sets lost were tied for the fewest in the nation (with Pittsburgh).
In its last 49 matches dating to 2023, Creighton is 44-5 and has won 137-of-159 sets. Four of the five match losses came in five sets.
In its 35 matches against BIG EAST schools since October 7, 2023, Creighton is 35-0 and has dropped just four sets to league opponents.
Most Matches Won in 2024
Rk. Matches Won Team
1. 35 Penn State
2. 33 Pittsburgh
33 Nebraska
4. 32 Creighton
5. 31 Dayton
Most Sets Won in 2024
Rk. Sets Won Team
1. 105 Penn State
2. 102 Creighton
102 Pittsburgh
102 Nebraska
Fewest Matches Lost in 2024
Rk. Matches Lost Team
1. 2 Pittsburgh
2 Penn State
3. 3 Creighton
3 Dayton
3 Nebraska
3 Arizona State
3 Texas-Arlington
3 South Dakota State
Fewest Sets Lost in 2024
Rk. Sets Lost Team
1. 15 Creighton
15 Pittsburgh
3. 19 Dayton
4. 20 Nebraska
20 Arizona State
Fewest Sets Lost in 2023
Rk. Sets Lost Team
1. 22 Creighton
22 Nebraska
22 Dayton
4. 23 Wisconsin
23 Tennessee
23 Western Michigan
No Losers Here
Creighton has been as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
Creighton and Pittsburgh are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons.
If you go back two years more, the nation's only teams to lose six times or less in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons are also Creighton and Pittsburgh.
Creighton is also the only school nationally who have won 25 matches or more in every season between 2014-24 (not counting the 2020 COVID-19 year, when CU only played 16 times).
13 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 13 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 13 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make even 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of seven teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments (2012-24). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas.
There are also 12 schools that have appeared in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue, Stanford and Washington. Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, and Texas have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
The Streak At Home
Creighton had its first unbeaten home season in program history in 2023, going a perfect 13-0 in matches and 39-3 in sets.
Last year CU did even better, going 19-0 and losing just two sets at home.
That extends its program record to 32 straight home wins, surpassing a 15-match home win streak from Sept. 7-Nov. 30, 2018 that had been the standard.
Creighton's 32-match home win streak is the third-longest active streak in the country. In that time, CU has lost just five sets total.
Creighton has won 89 of its last 91 sets played at D.J. Sokol Arena overall, where it lost just one set in 12 matches against BIG EAST opponents last fall.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
32 Sept. 1, 2023 - Present TBD
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
Nation's Longest Active Home Win Streaks
Wins Team Next Home Match
45 Nebraska Sept. 5 vs. Wright State
35 Pittsburgh Sept. 1 vs. Arizona State
32 Creighton Sept. 12 vs. Louisville
24 Penn State Sept. 5 vs. Kentucky
Ava's Awesome
Ava Martin has had 10 or more kills in each of her last 19 matches. Only two women in program history have had a longer streak.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Kills
58 Leah Ratzlaff, Sept. 13, 2003-Sept. 9, 2005
21 Jaali Winters, Oct. 6, 2015 - Aug. 28, 2016
19 JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 26-Nov. 21, 1997
19 Ava Martin, Oct. 18, 2024 - Present
18 Jaela Zimmerman, Nov. 16, 2019 - March 27, 2021
15 Norah Sis, Oct. 7 - Dec. 2, 2022
A Great Start
Ava Martin entered her senior season with 1,109 kills in her career. The 1,109 kills were the fifth-most ever by a Bluejay in their first three seasons.
If Martin can duplicate her 428 kills from last year, she'd finish her career fifth in Bluejay history with 1,537 career putaways.
Most Kills at Creighton, First 3 Seasons
Name Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 3 Yr Total
Jaali Winters 546 448 398 1,392
Norah Sis 435 489 302 1,226
Melissa Walsh 341 428 435 1,204
Leah Ratzlaff 180 516 479 1,175
Ava Martin 264 417 428 1,109
Kelly Goc 218 345 437 1,000
JoDe Cieloha 271 303 380 954
Milestone Watch
Creighton's student-athletes are approaching all sorts of milestones as the 2025 season gets underway.
Kiara Reinhardt is tied for seventh in program history with 374 career block assists. With a strong weekend in Madison, Reinhardt could pass Marysa Wilkinson (374), Laurel Sanford (376) and Megan Bober (380) to move into the top five.
Reinhardt's 422 career total blocks are tied for seventh in CU history with Bober, and 15 behind JoDe Cieloha's 437 for sixth place.
Four On The Floor
Kiara Reinhardt made her fourth Opening Day start last Saturday. She's just the 19th player in CU history to start four season-openers.
Five Opening Day Starts
Name Years
Naomi Hickman 2017-21
Four Opening Day Starts
Name Years
JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
Shelley Kapler 1996-99
Erin Swanson 1998-01
Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Carolyn Decker 2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda 2005-08
Jessica Houts 2006-09
Allie Oelke 2007-10
Heather Thorson 2009-12
Megan Bober 2009-12
Jess Bird 2013-16
Lauren Smith 2013-16
Jaali Winters 2015-18
Norah Sis 2021-24
Kendra Wait 2022-24
Kiara Reinhardt 2020, '22, '24-25
Survival of the Fittest
Since the move to rally scoring in 2001, Creighton has won 10 matches when surviving a match point and lost four contests when holding a match point of its own.
Surviving Match Points Since 2001
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
09/27/02 Evansville 13-14, 14-15 19-17
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
11/20/15 at Georgetown 23-24, 26-27 (4th set) 15-7
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky 16-15, 19-18 22-20
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played multiple matches in 25 tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won 18 of them.
The only events that CU has not won were four NCAA Tournaments, the 2022 Bluejay Invitational (won by Kentucky), the 2022 Rice adidas Invitational (won by Rice) and the 2024 Cardinal Classic (won by Louisville).
Keep in mind that when Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired in 2003, Creighton had been 17-33 in 15 regular-season tournaments all-time, with just one tournament title (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic).
Creighton Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-25th)
2021 Mizzou Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluegrass Battle 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic 3-0 (1st)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 1-1 (T-17th)
2022 Rumble in the Rockies 3-0 (1st)
2022 Bluejay Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2022 Omaha Invitational 2-0 (1st)
2022 Rice adidas Invitational 1-1 (2nd)
2022 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2022 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-33rd)
2023 Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier 2-1 (1st)
2023 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2023 MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge 2-0 (1st)
2023 Diet Coke Challenge 2-0 (1st)
2023 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2023 NCAA Tournament 2-1 (T-9th)
2024 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2024 Creighton Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 Cardinal Classic 2-1 (2nd)
2024 Jayhawk Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2024 NCAA Tournament 3-1 (T-5th)
Jays Earn Tourney Titles
Creighton has won at least one tournament each of the previous 13 seasons, a streak that dates to 2012.
During that span, the Bluejays have won 35 tournament titles, not to mention 12 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton has also now won at least one home tournament each of the previous eight seasons.
Creighton's Tournament Titles Since 2012
Year Titles Won Tourney Hosts
2012 3 USF, UNC, MVC
2013 1 BGSU
2014 1 CU, BIG EAST
2015 1 BIG EAST
2016 1 BIG EAST
2017 4 WASH, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2018 3 SMU, CU, BIG EAST
2019 2 UNI, CU
2020 1 BIG EAST
2021 5 MIZZ, UK, CU, WSU, BIG EAST
2022 3 WYO, UNO, BIG EAST
2023 5 Purdue, CU, UNO, MINN, BIG EAST
2024 4 CU, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 418-11 (.974) all-time when leading a match 2-0, and 149-1 (.993) all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 94.9 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Conversely, the Jays are 17-209 (.075) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 17 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
10/07/22 at UConn 25-15, 25-12, 15-13 Booth
10/14/22 #16 Marquette 25-19, 25-16, 15-8 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton has gone 160-6 in its last 166 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 17-23 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 197-4 (.980) in its last 201 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set won just 20.3 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 167-5 in its last 172 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only to Pacific (Sept. 12, 2015), No. 7 Nebraska (Sept. 6, 2018), South Dakota (Jan. 29, 2021), No. 16 Kentucky (Sept. 3, 2022) and Auburn (Dec. 2, 2022).
The Jays have won their last 31 home matches following a first set victory.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team will play 10 matches against teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament with contests against Marquette (2x), Nebraska, Kansas (2x), Louisville, Northern Iowa, USC, Texas and Penn State.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
2022 5-4
2023 11-3
2024 9-3
2025 0-1 so far
TOTAL 115-146
TOTAL Under Booth 113-110
TOTAL Under Rosen 0-1
11 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Regular-season champions from 2014-24, Creighton is the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win 11 straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win more than five straight league titles, more than doubling the previous high of five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96) in the MVC.
The only other volleyball team nationally with an active streak of more than five straight regular-season league titles is Kentucky, with eight.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is starting its 13th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 112-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (101-3 in the regular-season, 11-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 96-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 86-1 league mark and a 10-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in the fall of 2022, fourth-year Bluejay seniors Ava Martin and Sky McCune are 32-0 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 96-7 in sets.
Creighton has won 46 straight matches against BIG EAST opposition at home.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Creighton owns 11 regular-season titles (3 shared) in that time, while Marquette owns four regular-season (3 shared) crowns.
As it relates to BIG EAST Tournament titles, Creighton has won 10, Marquette one and St. John's one since 2013.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Aug. 27, 2025
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (12) 188 16 315 74
Marquette (11) 169 32 284 93
Xavier 116 86 179 170
St. John's (1) 104 100 222 161
Butler 103 101 178 176
Villanova (1) 100 104 188 163
Seton Hall (1) 86 117 167 186
DePaul 65 139 149 201
Georgetown 44 152 111 221
Connecticut# 42 38 79 62
Providence* 30 158 112 209
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a winning percentage better than .750 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 209 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 33 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to three league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence) since joining the BIG EAST, and Marquette (6), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 22-1 - 22-1
Connecticut 4-1 1-0 5-1
DePaul 24-0 3-0 27-0
Georgetown 22-0 - 22-0
Marquette 19-5 7-1 26-6
Providence 17-0 - 17-0
Seton Hall 19-3 2-0 21-3
St. John's 20-2 1-1 21-3
Villanova 19-3 3-0 22-3
Xavier 22-1 4-0 26-1
Total 188-16 21-2 209-18
Match #2: #5 Texas vs. #12 Creighton • Madison, Wis. • Friday, Aug. 29 • 8:30 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | UT NOTES |
Match #3: #14 Kansas vs. #12 Creighton • Madison, Wis. • Sunday, Aug. 31 • 3:30 p.m.
| LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | CU NOTES | KU NOTES |
This Weekend
No. 12 Creighton Volleyball (0-1) closes out August with a pair of Top 15 opponents this weekend at the Opening Spike Classic in Madison, Wis.
The Jays face No. 5 Texas (0-0) on Friday night at 8:30 p.m., then take on No. 14 Kansas (1-1) on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Kohl Center (17,071) will host the action.
Broadcast Information
Both matches this weekend will be nationally-televised on BTN, with Chris Vosters and Mac Podraza on the call.
The matches will also be video webcast at http://foxsports.com/live/btn, though cable authorization may be required.
Live Stats Information
Both CU matches will have free live stats available at http://Creighton.StatBroadcast.com.
A link will also be on the GoCreighton.com volleyball schedule page.
Scouting #12 Creighton
Ranked 12th in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll, Creighton returns three starters among 11 letterwinners from last year's team that went 32-3 and reached the Elite Eight. CU opened the season last Saturday against No. 2 Penn State, falling 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 27-25) to the defending champions in a competitive match that featured 20 ties and five lead changes.
Though All-Americans Kendra Wait, Norah Sis, Maddy Bilinovic and Elise Goetzinger have graduated and legendary head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth took a job with LOVB Nebraska, the expectations for the 11-time defending BIG EAST champion Bluejays haven't changed.
Reigning AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Brian Rosen was promoted to head coach after three seasons assisting Booth, and he'll rely on senior starters Ava Martin (3.66 kps., .312%, 0.48 saps. last year) and Kiara Reinhardt (1.48 bps., 1.43 kps., .296%) to lead a talented group.
Jaya Johnson (1.69 kps., .322%), Sydney Breissinger (2.02 dps., 0.31 saps.), Destiny Ndam-Simpson (1.53 kps.), Sky McCune (0.30 dps.) and Alivia Hausmann (0.22 saps.) have all played on a regular basis in the past and will look to take the next step in 2025.
Creighton also picked up transfers Eloise Brandewie (Ohio State), Saige Damrow (Wisconsin), Ivy Leuck (Omaha) and Annalea Maeder (California) in addition to adding freshmen Abbey Hayes and Ashlyn Paymal. All but Maeder enrolled in January and practiced with CU in the spring.
CU averaged 14.39 kills, 1.91 aces, 14.31 digs and 2.69 blocks per set and hit .324 last season.
Scouting #5 Texas
Texas will be making its 2025 regular-season debut on Friday, though the Longhorns did defeat Utah in an exhibition match on Aug. 15.
UT went 20-7 last season after losing in the Regional Semifinal to Creighton, snapping its quest for a third straight national title. The Longhorns were ranked 11th in the year-end AVCA poll, its first time finishing outside the Top 25 since 2005.
Last year's Longhorn team was led by 2023 VolleyballMag.com National Player of the Year Madisen Skinner, who averaged 4.35 kills per set on .277 hitting before moving on to LOVB. Also gone are blocks leader Marianna Singletary (1.38 bps.) and assist leader Averi Carlson (8.46 aps.).
That being said, the cupboard is far from bare on the Forty Acres, as UT brings back digs and aces leader Emma Halter (3.47 dps., 0.30 saps.), 2023 national champion setter Ella Swindle (9.54 aps. in 2023) and Ayden Ames (1.56 kps., .359%, 0.92 bps.).
Among one of the nation's top classes of newcomers is Pitt transfer Torrey Stafford (3.70 kps., .358%), a First Team All-American a year ago, former Indiana libero Ramsey Gary (4.06 dps.) and incoming freshmen and USA U21 National Team members Abby Vander Wal and Taylor Harvey.
Series History vs. Texas
Creighton and Texas have split two previous matches, both of which have taken place on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2016, Texas swept Creighton in the Elite Eight in Austin (25-19, 25-20, 25-11). Last year at Penn State, the Bluejays beat the Longhorns in four sets (24-26, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20) to end UT's hopes for a three-peat.
Brian Rosen is 0-0 all-time against Texas. Longhorns coach Jerritt Elliott is 1-1 all-time against Creighton but never faced Rosen.
Scouting #14 Kansas
Ranked No. 14 in the preseason AVCA poll, Kansas is 1-1 after splitting five-set results against first-year program Vanderbilt (W 3-2) and defending national champion and second-ranked Penn State (L 3-2). The Jayhawks were 25-5 last season, losing at home in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in five sets to Florida.
Reese Ptacek (2.40 kps., .278%, 1.50 bps.) leads the team in kills, while Selena Leban (2.86 kps., .385%) and Rhian Swanson (3.60 kps., .333%) made a huge impact in the near-upset against Penn State.
Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Jovana Zelenovic (2.10 kps., 1.60 bps.) and Ryan White (3.30 dps.) spearhead the defense, while Katie Dalton (5.40 aps.) and Cristin Cline (7.80 aps.) have each made one start each at setter.
Cline, Ptacek and Zelenovic were all named Preseason All-Big 12 for a KU team picked to finish second in the Big 12.
Overall, the Jayhawks average 12.30 kills, 11.40 digs, 3.10 blocks and 1.00 aces per set while hitting .245 as a team.
Series History vs. Kansas
Kansas owns a 9-4 lead in the all-time series against Creighton, but the teams have never met on a neutral floor. Creighton swept the No. 10 Jayhawks (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) last season in Lawrence to hand KU its first loss of 2024.
Brian Rosen has never faced Kansas nor Matt Ulmer. Ulmer has never faced Creighton. Both men are in their first season after replacing a legendary head coach.
Creighton Coaches
Brian Rosen was named the fourth head coach in modern Creighton Volleyball history on April 6, 2025, as he was promoted following the departure of 22-year head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. He is 0-1 as Creighton head coach after last Saturday's loss to No. 2 Penn State.
Named the 2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Rosen served as a Creighton assistant from 2022-24, during which time CU went 88-13, swept the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament tiles each fall, and defeated 10 Top 25 opponents.
The 2008 South Carolina grad went 45-17 as head coach at Division II Nova Southeastern from 2019-21, though the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19 without playing a match.
Rosen is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Adam Kessenich and Izzy Ashburn.
Last Season Summary
Creighton went 32-3 last season and were ranked sixth in the year-end AVCA poll, with both milestones being program-bests. All three of CU's losses came against eventual Final Four teams, and each were on the road and in five sets.
CU swept South Dakota and Ole Miss at home in the NCAA Tournament to finish 19-0 at D.J. Sokol Arena and reach the Sweet 16, where it then knocked off two-time defending national champion Texas to earn an Elite Eight date with eventual national champ Penn State.
Kendra Wait repeated as BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Setter of the Year, while becoming the first athlete in CU history to be named both First Team All-American on the court/field and First Team Academic All-American in the same season. Norah Sis picked up her third AVCA All-America accolade and Ava Martin her second, while transfers Maddy Bilinovic and Elise Goetzinger were also recognized as CU led the country with five All-Americans.
The Jays went 20-0 against BIG EAST foes, dropping just three sets, en route to their 11th consecutive regular-season league title.
In her final season on The Hilltop, Kirsten Bernthal Booth was named AVCA West Region Coach of the Year and led the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year, which also included 2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year Brian Rosen.
With A Win...
With a win on Friday...
- Creighton would improve to 2-1 all-time against Texas, joining Florida, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Pacific, Penn State, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford, UCLA and Utah State as the only teams to have a winning record against Texas (min. 3 meetings).
- Creighton would improve to 31-90 all-time against Top 25 teams, and 12-40 against Top 10 opponents.
- Creighton would defeat a ranked team for the 11th straight season.
- Brian Rosen would become the first person to have his/her first victory as Creighton head coach come against a Top 25 opponent since Johnny Torres led the men's soccer team to a win over No. 21 Akron on Sept. 6, 2019.
- Brian Rosen would become the only head coach in Creighton history to pick up their first win at the helm over a Top 10 team. Currently the best "first win" spot is reserved for Cathy Klein, who led the Bluejay women's soccer team to a 1-0 win vs. No. 12 Wisconsin on Sept. 3, 1994.
The Return To Mad-Town
Creighton has played annually at Marquette since joining the BIG EAST in 2013, but has never played a match in Madison.
This year is as good as any to head to the capital city of America's Dairyland as four women have a connection to the state.
Sophomore Saige Damrow spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons playing for Wisconsin, splitting time between the libero and defensive specialist positions and collecting 127 career digs. She is a native of Howards Grove, Wis., where she won four state titles as a prep.
Assistant coach Izzy Ashburn played five seasons for Wisconsin as a setter from 2019-23. She owns Badger career records for aces (187), matches played (151) and sets played (527). A two-time team captain, Ashburn led UW in assists each of her final two seasons and notched 19 career double-doubles. Wisconsin went 132-19 with Ashburn, reaching four Final Fours and winning the 2021 NCAA title in a contest that saw her serve a match-leading four aces.
CU also boasts two other Wisconsin natives. Sixth-year senior Kiara Reinhardt hails from the northern Milwaukee suburb of Cedarburg, while sophomore Sophia Wendlick is from Milwaukee.
Martin Steps Up
Ava Martin led all players with 19 kills on Saturday against No. 2 Penn State, an impressive showing by the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year that led Brian Rosen to call her "the best player on the floor" in the post-match press conference.
Martin's 19 kills were the most by any Bluejay in a season-opener since All-American Jaali Winters opened her senior season with 25 kills vs. No. 5 Kentucky in 2018.
Martin's 19 kills are the second-most ever by a Bluejay in a three-set match against a Top 25 team, as Melissa Walsh had 20 at No. 24 Kansas State on Sept. 14, 1999.
Martin's 19 kills were her most ever in a three-set match, and third-most by a Bluejay since the rally-scoring era went to 25-point sets in 2008.
Of the 67 three-set matches played by Penn State the previous five seasons, no player had owned more than 17 kills against the Nittany Lions. The last PSU opponent to do so was two-time National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer, who had 24 in a Regional Final victory on Dec. 14, 2019.
Though it's extremely early, Martin leads the nation with 6.33 kills per set.
I Know What You Did This Summer
Ava Martin (and former Creighton All-American Norah Sis) spent the end of July with USA Volleyball's Women's U23 National Team, helping the squad to the Gold Medal at the Pan American Cup. Martin, in fact, was behind the service line for the point that won the championship.
Among the alternates on the team were the Texas tandem of Ella Swindle and Devin Kahahawai, as well as former Longhorn Marianna Singletary.
Another former UT standout, Averi Carlson, was one of the participants on the squad, though she is now enrolled at SMU.
Finding The Win Column
Creighton had won five straight season-openers before last Saturday's setback to No. 2 Penn State, which also marked the first time the Jays were swept in a season-opener since 2008 (No. 16 Minnesota).
Creighton has not started 0-2 since 2019, when it lost to No. 2 Nebraska and No. 20 Baylor.
Creighton has not lost its first three matches since beginning 0-9 in 2002.
Damrow Digs It
Saige Damrow's 15 digs vs. Penn State were tied for the fifth-most in Creighton history in a debut, and the most since Brittany Witt (21) and Lydia Dimke (20) in 2016.
Damrow's 15 digs tied Nayka Benitez (in 2009) for the most digs in a CU debut that was a three-set match.
Saturday was the 14th time in Damrow's career that she'd played three sets or less in a match, but the first time she's had double-figure digs in one of those contests.
Accomplished Coaches, Then and Now
Creighton head coach Brian Rosen and Kansas head coach Matt Ulmer are both first year head coaches at their schools, but each man has long been respected in volleyball circles. Both were members of the AVCA's prestigious Thirty Under 30 list in 2013.
At the time, Rosen was the head coach at Charlotte (NC) Country Day School, while Ulmer was the head sand coach and indoor assistant coach with Long Beach State.
Other prominent names recognized in 2013 included current head coaches Erin Virtue (Michigan) and Christy Pfeffenberger (Xavier)
Coaching Debuts
Brian Rosen is Creighton Volleyball's fourth head coach since it reinstated the program in 1994 following Ben Guiliano (1994-96), Howard Wallace (1997-2002) and Kirsten Bernthal Booth (2003-24).
Guiliano swept Chattanooga in his debut on Sept. 2, 1994 at the Tulane Invitational in New Orleans, La.
Wallace swept Kansas City at the Creighton First Serve Festival in Omaha by a 15-5, 16-14, 15-9 count.
Booth lost a four-set match (30-23, 30-32, 30-26, 30-24) to Iowa State on Aug. 29, 2003 at the Iowa State Heritage Classic in Ames before sweeping Auburn in her second match to claim her first Division I victory.
Ranked Debuts
Brian Rosen is the first person in any sport to lead a ranked Creighton team in his head coaching debut on The Hilltop since Elmar Bolowich took over the No. 10 Bluejay men's soccer program in 2011. Bolowich led that squad to the 2011 College Cup and year-end No. 4 ranking.
Rosen was also be Creighton's first head coach in any sport to debut against a ranked team since men's soccer coach Johnny Torres tied No. 6 North Carolina on Aug. 30, 2019. Rosen was CU's first coach to start off against a top-five team.
Champions Among Champions
Since the start of the 2012 season, Creighton, and Western Kentucky are the nation's only schools to have won 12 conference regular-season titles. All but three of Creighton's 12 crowns were outright titles, whereas WKU has shared five. Texas has won 11 titles in that time.
Creighton has also won 11 conference tournament titles since 2012, the most in the nation.
Most Conference Titles 2012-2024
Regular-Season League Tournament
12 (3 shared) Creighton 11 Creighton
12 (5) Western Kentucky 10 Western Kentucky
11 (1) Texas 9 Dayton
11 (1) Fairfield 9 Fairfield
9 (8) Florida A&M
9 (5) Yale
9 (1) Colorado State
Two Of The Best
Creighton and Texas have been two of the nation's best teams over the past decade.
In the previous 10 seasons, Creighton's 267 victories are fourth-most nationally, one spot ahead of Texas' 260. In that same decade, Texas leads the nation with a .878 win percentage (260-36), with Creighton sixth at .829 (267-55).
Narrow the window to the last five seasons and Creighton is tied for fifth with 131 victories, while Texas is seventh with 130 triumphs. When it comes to win percentage in the previous five years, Texas is first at .890 (130-16) and Creighton is sixth at .862 (131-21).
KC's Finest
Several of Creighton's most decorated players have direct connections to Kansas.
Ava Martin (Overland Park), Ava TeStrake (Olathe) and Jaya Johnson (Olathe) are all from the Kansas City-metro area.
Ava Martin's father Chris Martin played in 29 games with Kansas basketball from 1997-99.
Formula Failure
Creighton has had a ton of success through the years by dominating a number of statistical categories, which generally leads to victory.
Creighton had a number of long streaks snapped on Saturday, and also had a number of trends from 2024 reversed.
Streaks Snapped on Saturday
- 49 straight match wins in matches to last 4 sets or less
- 42 straight wins in matches that were exactly 3 sets
- 26 straight wins when CU has more aces than errors
- 25 straight wins when Ava Martin hit .237 or better
- 25 straight wins after a loss
- 25 straight wins in the second set
2024 Trends That Didn't Hold Up on Saturday
- 102-1 in sets when owning a set point last year (0-1 Sat.)
- 63-5 last year when winning first point of a set (0-3 Sat.)
- 20-0 last year when Ava Martin hit .300 or better (0-1 Sat.)
- 9-1 last year in sleeveless white uniforms (0-1 Sat.)
- 8-4 in sets decided by exactly 2 points last year (0-1 Sat.)
- 5-2 in sets going beyond 25 points last year (0-1 Sat.)
Hello World!
One transfer (Abby Leuck) and one Bluejay true freshman (Ashlyn Paymal) could make their Creighton debuts this weekend.
Below is the current Creighton players and how they performed in their regular-season collegiate debuts (as well as at previous schools in the cases of Brandewie, Damrow, Leuck and Maeder).
Records for a Bluejay debut can be found at the bottom of page three. Interestingly, the career leaders or career runner-ups for Creighton Volleyball in digs (Brittany Witt and Kate Elman), aces (Molly Moran), kills (Jaali Winters) and blocks (Kelli Browning) also own the CU record or are second for that same category for a Bluejay debut.
Year Name SP K E TA Pct. A SA DIG TB
2024 Jaya Johnson 3 11 1 19 .526 0 0 5 0
2020 Kiara Reinhardt• 3 7 4 16 .188 0 2 2 4
2023 D. Ndam-Simpson 3 5 2 10 .300 0 0 3 1
2025 E. Brandewie• 3 5 0 11 .455 1 0 1 2
2022 Ava Martin 1 3 0 4 .750 0 0 0 1
2023 Eloise Brandewie$ 3 2 2 9 000 0 0 1 3
2025 Abbey Hayes 2 1 3 7 -.286 0 2 4 0
2023 Ava TeStrake 2 0 1 2 -.500 0 0 0 0
2022 Sky McCune• 3 0 0 0 --- 2 0 5 0
2023 Sydney Breissinger 3 0 0 0 --- 1 0 7 0
2024 Alivia Hausmann 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2023 Ivy Leuck% 3 0 1 1 -1.000 8 0 1 0
2024 Sophia Wendlick 2 0 1 4 -.250 0 0 0 0
2024 Emersen Strain 2 0 0 0 --- 1 0 0 0
2023 Saige Damrow# 3 0 0 0 --- 5 0 4 0
2021 Annalea Maeder!• 2 0 0 2 .000 8 1 0 0
2024 Nora Wurtz• 3 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
2025 A. Maeder• 3 0 2 4 -.500 34 1 6 1
2025 Saige Damrow 3 0 1 1 -1.000 0 1 15 0
#Damrow's stats from debut at Wisconsin in 2023
$Brandewie's stats from debut at Ohio State in 2023
%Leuck's stats from debut at Omaha in 2023
!Maeder's stats from debut at Cal in 2021
140 Weeks As A Ranked Team
Creighton is ranked 12th in the preseason AVCA poll, the 140th time in program history it's been ranked. That's 39th-most of all programs in NCAA history.
All 140 rankings have occurred since 2012.
The Bluejays are one of 13 schools (along with Baylor, Florida, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 63 polls.
Preseason Ranking
Creighton was ranked 12th in the AVCA preseason poll on Aug. 7th. It's the 11th time in the past 13 years that the Jays have been ranked in the preseason, and fourth year in a row.
The No. 12 slotting tied last year's team for the second-best preseason ranking in program history, trailing only the 2017 team that was ranked ninth.
Over the previous 17 seasons, 315-of-425 teams (74.1 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls, and in the 17 seasons from 2008-2024, 385-of-425 teams (90.6 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but preseason No. 19 Arkansas and No. 25 Georgia reached the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
This year marks the 14th straight season that CU has been ranked at least one week, extending a program record.
Year Preseason Rank Final W-L Final Rank
2013 25th 23-9 NR
2014 23rd 25-9 NR
2016 18th 27-9 9th
2017 9th 26-7 16th
2018 13th 29-5 13th
2019 18th 25-6 16th
2020 16th 12-4 NR
2022 18th 27-5 21st
2023 18th 29-5 15th
2024 12th 32-3 5th
2025 12th TBD TBD
Top 10 Wins
Creighton owns 11 Top 10 wins in program history, all of which have taken place in the previous 10 seasons.
All but one of the those Top 10 wins have taken place away from home, including wins over No. 6 Purdue and No. 10 Kansas on back-to-back days last September in Lawrence, Kan.
Creighton owns four top-five wins in program history, and all of those were away from home.
The highest-ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten was No. 3 Washington (8/26/17) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21).
Creighton's Top 10 Wins
Date Opponent Score
09/05/15 vs. #10 Kentucky (at UNI) W 3-1
12/02/16 at #4 Kansas W 3-2
08/26/17 at #3 Washington W 3-1
09/09/17 at #7 Kansas W 3-0
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky (at USC) W 3-2
10/12/19 at #10 Marquette W 3-2
11/09/19 #9 Marquette W 3-1
09/04/21 at #3 Kentucky W 3-0
09/16/23 at #9 Minnesota W 3-2
09/20/24 vs. #6 Purdue (at Kansas) W 3-1
09/21/24 at #10 Kansas W 3-0
Top Five, Back-To-Back?
Creighton will be playing its second straight Top 5 opponent this season, and third in a row dating to last year's season-ending loss at No. 2 Penn State.
It's the first time ever that Creighton has played two or more consecutive contests against top-five opposition.
Add in last year's season-ending matches against No. 13 Texas and No. 2 Penn State, plus this year's opening matches vs. No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Texas and No. 14 Kansas and it'll mark the first time ever that CU has played five Top 25 foes in a row.
Top 25 History
Creighton is 231-49 all-time when playing as a ranked team, and also 25-29 all-time against ranked teams when ranked itself. That mark is 4-4 when both Creighton and its opponent are ranked in the top 10.
Since the start of the 2012 season, 44 of Creighton's 78 losses have come against ranked teams. In that same period, Creighton is 314-34 against unranked teams. Creighton has won all but three of its past 122 home matches over unranked teams and all but 13 of its last 175 matches at all sites against unranked teams.
Ranked vs. Ranked (CU is 25-29)
Home: 10-9 Away: 8-12 Neutral: 7-8
Date Winner Loser CU Score
11/19/12 #11 Minnesota #21 Creighton 1-3
08/30/13 #25 Creighton #13 BYU 3-1
09/14/13 #11 UCLA #24 Creighton 1-3
09/16/13 #7 Hawaii #23 Creighton 2-3
08/30/14 #22 Kansas #23 Creighton 1-3
09/03/16 #23 Kentucky #22 Creighton 0-3
12/02/16 #21 Creighton #4 Kansas 3-2
12/09/16 #21 Creighton #17 Michigan 3-2
12/10/16 #5 Texas #21 Creighton 0-3
08/26/17 #9 Creighton #3 Washington 3-1
09/01/17 #7 Creighton #13 Kentucky 3-0
09/02/17 #18 USC #7 Creighton 0-3
09/08/17 #17 Purdue #9 Creighton 1-3
09/09/17 #9 Creighton #7 Kansas 3-0
09/16/17 #19 Iowa State #8 Creighton 2-3
12/12/17 #12 Michigan St. #15 Creighton 1-3
08/24/18 #13 Creighton #5 Kentucky 3-2
08/25/18 #10 USC #13 Creighton 2-3
09/06/18 #7 Nebraska #14 Creighton 2-3
09/15/18 #8 Illinois #10 Creighton 1-3
09/23/18 #10 Creighton #21 Marquette 3-0
10/26/18 #10 Creighton #18 Marquette 3-1
11/24/18 #9 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-1
12/01/18 #22 Washington #9 Creighton 0-3
08/30/19 #2 Nebraska #18 Creighton 1-3
08/31/19 #20 Baylor #18 Creighton 0-3
09/06/19 #23 Creighton #12 Kentucky 3-1
09/07/19 #23 Creighton #15 USC 3-1
09/14/19 #12 Washington #17 Creighton 1-3
10/12/19 #13 Creighton #10 Marquette 3-2
11/22/19 #12 Creighton #9 Marquette 3-1
12/07/19 #7 Minnesota #15 Creighton 2-3
02/05/21 #19 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-2
02/06/21 #25 Marquette #19 Creighton 0-3
09/08/21 #3 Nebraska #19 Creighton 0-3
09/02/22 #17 Creighton #25 USC 3-1
09/03/22 #16 Kentucky #17 Creighton 1-3
09/07/22 #2 Nebraska #17 Creighton 2-3
10/14/22 #21 Creighton #16 Marquette 3-2
11/19/22 #16 Marquette #11 Creighton 0-3
11/26/22 #15 Creighton #14 Marquette 3-2
08/26/23 #18 Creighton #16 Purdue 3-0
09/06/23 #4 Nebraska #16 Creighton 1-3
09/16/23 #14 Creighton #9 Minnesota 3-2
11/05/23 #17 Creighton #25 Marquette 3-0
12/07/23 #7 Louisville #17 Creighton 2-3
09/05/24 #11 Creighton #20 USC 3-1
09/10/24 #5 Nebraska #9 Creighton 2-3
09/15/24 #4 Louisville #9 Creighton 2-3
09/20/24 #9 Creighton #6 Purdue 3-1
09/21/24 #9 Creighton #10 Kansas 3-0
12/13/24 #6 Creighton #13 Texas 3-1
12/15/24 #2 Penn State #6 Creighton 2-3
08/23/25 #2 Penn State #12 Creighton 0-3
Against Ranked Foes
After a total of three top-25 wins from 1994-2014, Creighton has earned at least one top-25 win each of the previous 10 seasons (2015-24).
Creighton is 30-90 all-time against ranked teams, with all 30 wins coming under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
The highest ranked teams that Creighton has ever beaten at any site were No. 3 Washington (8/26/17 in Seattle) and No. 3 Kentucky (9/4/21 in Lexington). CU's highest-ranked opponent it has defeated at home was a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Marquette on Nov. 22, 2019.
Last year was the eighth season that CU owned multiple Top-25 victories. The Jays beat three Top 25 teams in 2017, 2022 and 2023, and a record four in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Put It In Neutral
Creighton went 4-0 on neutral floors last season (including wins over #6 Purdue and #13 Texas), continuing a trend of playing well at neutral sites.
Including last Saturday's loss to Penn State, the Bluejays are 20-3 in the last five seasons on neutral floors, including a 7-0 mark in 2021, a 4-0 record in 2022, a 5-2 record in 2023, a 4-0 record in 2024 and an 0-1 mark this fall.
Included in that stretch are neutral-site wins over USC (2021), Northern Iowa (2021 and 2024), Iowa State (2022 & 2023), Florida State (2022), Kansas State (2022), Loyola Chicago (2023), High Point (2023), St. John's (2023), Rice (2024), Purdue (2024) and Texas (2024).
Crowded House
The crowd of 10,438 inside Pinnacle Bank Arena marked the largest crowd Creighton has ever played in front of for a road or neutral-site match.
CU's Sept. 16 home match vs. Nebraska is expected to challenge the NCAA regular-season indoor volleyball-only attendance record of 17,037. At one point, Wisconsin held that record after hosting 16,833 fans inside Kohl Center during a 2023 match against Florida. Current Creighton assistant coach Izzy Ashburn had nine digs as well as team-bests with 21 assists and one ace in that contest while playing for the Badgers.
Let's take a closer look:
Largest Home Crowds
Att. Opponent Date CU Result Facility
15,797 #2 Nebraska 09/07/22 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
14,022 #7 Nebraska 09/06/18 L 2-3 CHI Health Ctr.
13,081 #18 Cal Poly 09/02/07 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
12,112 #1 Nebraska 09/24/06 L 1-3 CHI Health Ctr.
11,279 #3 Nebraska 09/08/21 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
10,131 #4 Nebraska 09/15/15 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
8,037 #2 Nebraska 10/05/08 L 0-3 CHI Health Ctr.
Largest Away/Neutral Crowds
Att. Site Date CU Result
10,438 vs. #2 Penn State (at Neb.) 08/23/25 L 0-2
8,924 at #5 Nebraska 09/10/24 L 2-3
8,656 at #4 Nebraska 09.06/23 L 1-3
8,627 at #5 Nebraska 09/29/02 L 0-3
8,450 at #2 Nebraska 08/30/19 L 1-3
8,277 vs. Montana St. (at Neb.) 09/16/16 W 3-0
Production Returns
Creighton returns 11-of-19 letterwinners to the court from last season, including three starters.
From last year's team, Norah Sis, Elise Goetzinger, Kendra Wait, Abbey Milner, Maddy Bilinovic, Audrey Clark, Katie Maser and Emma Ziegler are not back.
All told, of the seven categories listed below, Creighton returns 294.5 of a possible 700% back (42.1 percent), the smallest amount returning since it headed into Howard Wallace's final season in 2002.
Below is a breakdown of the production that is back:
Stat Returners Departures
Assists 119 (7.6%) 1,450 (92.4%)
Aces 115 (51.3%) 109 (48.7%)
Digs 598 (35.7%) 1,076 (64.3%)
Points 1,115.5 (50.2%) 1,107.0 (49.8%)
Kills 843 (50.1%) 841 (49.9%)
Matches Started 104 (49.5%) 106 (50.5%)
Blocks 157.5 (50.1%) 157.0 (49.9%)
Beginning With The End
This year marked the first time that Creighton Volleyball will open the fall with the same opponent (Penn State) that the Bluejays ended the previous season against.
Even stranger is that Creighton's next opponents (Texas, Friday in Madison) was also Creighton's second-to-last opponent a year ago.
One Tough Schedule
Of Creighton's 12 non-conference matches, seven are against ranked teams and three others against programs that received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.
Creighton is the only team in the preseason Top 25 with 10 or more non-conference matches against teams getting votes, as Texas and TCU are next-closest with eight each.
A Bunch of Winners
Creighton's 32 victories last season were fourth-most in the country, trailing only Final Four qualifiers Penn State (35), Pittsburgh (33) and Nebraska (33).
Creighton's three losses last fall were tied for the third-fewest in the nation, one more than Penn State and Pittsburgh's two losses.
When it comes to sets, Creighton's 102 sets won were tied for second-most in the nation (Penn State had 105), while its 15 sets lost were tied for the fewest in the nation (with Pittsburgh).
In its last 49 matches dating to 2023, Creighton is 44-5 and has won 137-of-159 sets. Four of the five match losses came in five sets.
In its 35 matches against BIG EAST schools since October 7, 2023, Creighton is 35-0 and has dropped just four sets to league opponents.
Most Matches Won in 2024
Rk. Matches Won Team
1. 35 Penn State
2. 33 Pittsburgh
33 Nebraska
4. 32 Creighton
5. 31 Dayton
Most Sets Won in 2024
Rk. Sets Won Team
1. 105 Penn State
2. 102 Creighton
102 Pittsburgh
102 Nebraska
Fewest Matches Lost in 2024
Rk. Matches Lost Team
1. 2 Pittsburgh
2 Penn State
3. 3 Creighton
3 Dayton
3 Nebraska
3 Arizona State
3 Texas-Arlington
3 South Dakota State
Fewest Sets Lost in 2024
Rk. Sets Lost Team
1. 15 Creighton
15 Pittsburgh
3. 19 Dayton
4. 20 Nebraska
20 Arizona State
Fewest Sets Lost in 2023
Rk. Sets Lost Team
1. 22 Creighton
22 Nebraska
22 Dayton
4. 23 Wisconsin
23 Tennessee
23 Western Michigan
No Losers Here
Creighton has been as good as anyone at avoiding losses in recent seasons.
Creighton and Pittsburgh are the nation's only teams with five losses or less in the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons.
If you go back two years more, the nation's only teams to lose six times or less in the 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons are also Creighton and Pittsburgh.
Creighton is also the only school nationally who have won 25 matches or more in every season between 2014-24 (not counting the 2020 COVID-19 year, when CU only played 16 times).
13 Straight NCAA's
Creighton Volleyball has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 13 seasons. They are the first women's team in any sport at Creighton to make 13 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The only other sport in Creighton history to make even 10 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the men's soccer program, which qualified in 17 straight seasons from 1992-2008.
Creighton is one of seven teams nationally to have appeared in each of the last 13 NCAA Tournaments (2012-24). That group features BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas.
There are also 12 schools that have appeared in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Tournaments, a group that includes Creighton, Florida State, Hawai'i, Minnesota, Purdue, Stanford and Washington. Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Penn State, and Texas have appeared in every NCAA Tournament since at least 2010.
The Streak At Home
Creighton had its first unbeaten home season in program history in 2023, going a perfect 13-0 in matches and 39-3 in sets.
Last year CU did even better, going 19-0 and losing just two sets at home.
That extends its program record to 32 straight home wins, surpassing a 15-match home win streak from Sept. 7-Nov. 30, 2018 that had been the standard.
Creighton's 32-match home win streak is the third-longest active streak in the country. In that time, CU has lost just five sets total.
Creighton has won 89 of its last 91 sets played at D.J. Sokol Arena overall, where it lost just one set in 12 matches against BIG EAST opponents last fall.
Creighton's Longest Home Win Streaks
Wins Dates Snapped By
32 Sept. 1, 2023 - Present TBD
15 Sept. 7 - Nov. 30, 2018 #22 Washington, 3-0
13 Sept. 1, 2012 - Sept. 7, 2013 California, 3-0
13 Sept. 9, 2016-Sept. 1, 2017 #18 USC, 3-0
Nation's Longest Active Home Win Streaks
Wins Team Next Home Match
45 Nebraska Sept. 5 vs. Wright State
35 Pittsburgh Sept. 1 vs. Arizona State
32 Creighton Sept. 12 vs. Louisville
24 Penn State Sept. 5 vs. Kentucky
Ava's Awesome
Ava Martin has had 10 or more kills in each of her last 19 matches. Only two women in program history have had a longer streak.
Consecutive Matches, 10 or More Kills
58 Leah Ratzlaff, Sept. 13, 2003-Sept. 9, 2005
21 Jaali Winters, Oct. 6, 2015 - Aug. 28, 2016
19 JoDe Cieloha, Sept. 26-Nov. 21, 1997
19 Ava Martin, Oct. 18, 2024 - Present
18 Jaela Zimmerman, Nov. 16, 2019 - March 27, 2021
15 Norah Sis, Oct. 7 - Dec. 2, 2022
A Great Start
Ava Martin entered her senior season with 1,109 kills in her career. The 1,109 kills were the fifth-most ever by a Bluejay in their first three seasons.
If Martin can duplicate her 428 kills from last year, she'd finish her career fifth in Bluejay history with 1,537 career putaways.
Most Kills at Creighton, First 3 Seasons
Name Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 3 Yr Total
Jaali Winters 546 448 398 1,392
Norah Sis 435 489 302 1,226
Melissa Walsh 341 428 435 1,204
Leah Ratzlaff 180 516 479 1,175
Ava Martin 264 417 428 1,109
Kelly Goc 218 345 437 1,000
JoDe Cieloha 271 303 380 954
Milestone Watch
Creighton's student-athletes are approaching all sorts of milestones as the 2025 season gets underway.
Kiara Reinhardt is tied for seventh in program history with 374 career block assists. With a strong weekend in Madison, Reinhardt could pass Marysa Wilkinson (374), Laurel Sanford (376) and Megan Bober (380) to move into the top five.
Reinhardt's 422 career total blocks are tied for seventh in CU history with Bober, and 15 behind JoDe Cieloha's 437 for sixth place.
Four On The Floor
Kiara Reinhardt made her fourth Opening Day start last Saturday. She's just the 19th player in CU history to start four season-openers.
Five Opening Day Starts
Name Years
Naomi Hickman 2017-21
Four Opening Day Starts
Name Years
JoDe Cieloha 1994-97
Melissa Weisensee 1994-97
Shelley Kapler 1996-99
Erin Swanson 1998-01
Kailey Reyes 1998-01
Melissa Walsh 1998-01
Carolyn Decker 2004-06, 08
Korie Lebeda 2005-08
Jessica Houts 2006-09
Allie Oelke 2007-10
Heather Thorson 2009-12
Megan Bober 2009-12
Jess Bird 2013-16
Lauren Smith 2013-16
Jaali Winters 2015-18
Norah Sis 2021-24
Kendra Wait 2022-24
Kiara Reinhardt 2020, '22, '24-25
Survival of the Fittest
Since the move to rally scoring in 2001, Creighton has won 10 matches when surviving a match point and lost four contests when holding a match point of its own.
Surviving Match Points Since 2001
Date Opponent MP(s) Faced Final Set 5
09/27/02 Evansville 13-14, 14-15 19-17
08/30/03 vs. McNeese State 13-14, 15-16 18-16
10/10/03 Wichita State 13-14 16-14
10/13/06 at Wichita State 12-14, 13-14, 14-15 17-15
09/11/07 at Drake 13-14, 14-15 17-15
08/26/11 vs. UTSA 12-14, 13-14 16-14
11/16/12 at Wichita State 13-14 16-14
09/20/15 Kansas State 23-24 (4th set) 15-13
11/20/15 at Georgetown 23-24, 26-27 (4th set) 15-7
08/24/18 vs. #5 Kentucky 16-15, 19-18 22-20
Tournament Tested
Creighton has played multiple matches in 25 tournaments since the start of the 2021 calendar year, and won 18 of them.
The only events that CU has not won were four NCAA Tournaments, the 2022 Bluejay Invitational (won by Kentucky), the 2022 Rice adidas Invitational (won by Rice) and the 2024 Cardinal Classic (won by Louisville).
Keep in mind that when Kirsten Bernthal Booth was hired in 2003, Creighton had been 17-33 in 15 regular-season tournaments all-time, with just one tournament title (the 2000 Iowa State Heritage Classic).
Creighton Tournaments Since Jan. 1, 2021
Year Event CU Record (Place)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-25th)
2021 Mizzou Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluegrass Battle 3-0 (1st)
2021 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic 3-0 (1st)
2021 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2021 NCAA Tournament 1-1 (T-17th)
2022 Rumble in the Rockies 3-0 (1st)
2022 Bluejay Invitational 2-1 (2nd)
2022 Omaha Invitational 2-0 (1st)
2022 Rice adidas Invitational 1-1 (2nd)
2022 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2022 NCAA Tournament 0-1 (T-33rd)
2023 Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier 2-1 (1st)
2023 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2023 MN Hospitality Omaha Challenge 2-0 (1st)
2023 Diet Coke Challenge 2-0 (1st)
2023 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2023 NCAA Tournament 2-1 (T-9th)
2024 Bluejay Invitational 3-0 (1st)
2024 Creighton Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 Cardinal Classic 2-1 (2nd)
2024 Jayhawk Classic 2-0 (1st)
2024 BIG EAST Tournament 2-0 (1st)
2024 NCAA Tournament 3-1 (T-5th)
Jays Earn Tourney Titles
Creighton has won at least one tournament each of the previous 13 seasons, a streak that dates to 2012.
During that span, the Bluejays have won 35 tournament titles, not to mention 12 regular-season league crowns.
Creighton has also now won at least one home tournament each of the previous eight seasons.
Creighton's Tournament Titles Since 2012
Year Titles Won Tourney Hosts
2012 3 USF, UNC, MVC
2013 1 BGSU
2014 1 CU, BIG EAST
2015 1 BIG EAST
2016 1 BIG EAST
2017 4 WASH, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2018 3 SMU, CU, BIG EAST
2019 2 UNI, CU
2020 1 BIG EAST
2021 5 MIZZ, UK, CU, WSU, BIG EAST
2022 3 WYO, UNO, BIG EAST
2023 5 Purdue, CU, UNO, MINN, BIG EAST
2024 4 CU, CU, KU, BIG EAST
2-0 Better Than 0-2
Creighton is 418-11 (.974) all-time when leading a match 2-0, and 149-1 (.993) all-time at D.J. Sokol Arena when up 2-0 at the break.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that won the first two sets won 94.9 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Conversely, the Jays are 17-209 (.075) all-time when trailing a match 0-2. Those 17 comebacks in program history from down 0-2 are listed below.
Date Opponent Sets 3-5 scores Coach
09/19/97 at Bradley 15-11, 15-13, 15-8 Wallace
10/01/99 at Drake 15-6, 17-15, 15-11 Wallace
09/03/04 vs. Montana 30-20, 30-21, 15-11 Booth
10/15/04 at Bradley 30-22, 30-23, 15-11 Booth
10/15/05 at So. Illinois 30-25, 30-24, 15-8 Booth
09/21/07 at No. Iowa 31-29, 30-26, 15-12 Booth
11/16/12 at Wichita St. 25-16, 25-20, 16-14 Booth
09/05/14 vs. No. Iowa 25-16, 25-22, 15-5 Booth
11/08/14 at Butler 25-16, 25-20, 15-13 Booth
09/20/15 Kansas State 25-23, 26-24, 15-13 Booth
10/09/15 DePaul 25-21, 25-12, 15-11 Booth
11/20/15 at Georgetown 30-28, 26-24, 15-7 Booth
10/13/17 Butler 25-21, 25-23, 15-9 Booth
10/18/18 Xavier 25-17, 25-17, 15-13 Booth
01/31/21 at So. Dakota 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 Booth
10/07/22 at UConn 25-15, 25-12, 15-13 Booth
10/14/22 #16 Marquette 25-19, 25-16, 15-8 Booth
Set 1 Result A Strong Indicator
Creighton has gone 160-6 in its last 166 matches at all sites when winning the first set, compared to a 17-23 record in that same span when dropping the opener.
Creighton has gone 197-4 (.980) in its last 201 matches against unranked foes when winning the opening set.
Per RichKern.com, Division I teams that lost the first set won just 20.3 percent of their matches from 2014-23.
Since Aug. 29, 2010, Creighton has gone 167-5 in its last 172 home matches when taking a 1-0 lead, losing only to Pacific (Sept. 12, 2015), No. 7 Nebraska (Sept. 6, 2018), South Dakota (Jan. 29, 2021), No. 16 Kentucky (Sept. 3, 2022) and Auburn (Dec. 2, 2022).
The Jays have won their last 31 home matches following a first set victory.
Against NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
This year's team will play 10 matches against teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament with contests against Marquette (2x), Nebraska, Kansas (2x), Louisville, Northern Iowa, USC, Texas and Penn State.
Year W-L vs. Previous Season NCAA Teams
1994 0-4
1995 0-2
1996 0-2
1997 0-3
1998 0-5
1999 2-4
2000 0-4
2001 1-6
2002 0-5
2003 0-3
2004 2-2
2005 0-6
2006 4-6
2007 4-9
2008 6-8
2009 1-11
2010 4-7
2011 2-6
2012 8-3
2013 6-6
2014 4-5
2015 11-5
2016 10-7
2017 8-6
2018 8-5
2019 5-4
2020 3-1
2021 3-1
2022 5-4
2023 11-3
2024 9-3
2025 0-1 so far
TOTAL 115-146
TOTAL Under Booth 113-110
TOTAL Under Rosen 0-1
11 Straight BIG EAST Regular-Season Titles
Regular-season champions from 2014-24, Creighton is the first team in BIG EAST volleyball history to win 11 straight regular-season titles. The previous record had been seven by Notre Dame from 1999-2005.
The Bluejay volleyball team is also the first Creighton program in any sport to win more than five straight league titles, more than doubling the previous high of five in a row by the men's soccer program (1992-96) in the MVC.
The only other volleyball team nationally with an active streak of more than five straight regular-season league titles is Kentucky, with eight.
Home Sweet Home
Creighton is starting its 13th season as a member of the BIG EAST since joining the league in the summer of 2013.
Since then, the Bluejays are 112-4 in home matches against BIG EAST teams (101-3 in the regular-season, 11-1 in the BIG EAST Tournament).
Since November of 2014, Creighton is 96-1 inside D.J. Sokol Arena against BIG EAST teams, which includes a 86-1 league mark and a 10-0 mark in the conference tournament. The only setback (on Feb. 6, 2021 vs. Marquette) was played as a non-conference match, only to be flipped to a league contest 19 days later.
Put another way, since enrolling at Creighton in the fall of 2022, fourth-year Bluejay seniors Ava Martin and Sky McCune are 32-0 in home matches against BIG EAST teams, and 96-7 in sets.
Creighton has won 46 straight matches against BIG EAST opposition at home.
BIG EAST'S Best
Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in the summer of 2013, Creighton, Marquette and St. John's are the only teams to win any sort of BIG EAST volleyball title.
Creighton owns 11 regular-season titles (3 shared) in that time, while Marquette owns four regular-season (3 shared) crowns.
As it relates to BIG EAST Tournament titles, Creighton has won 10, Marquette one and St. John's one since 2013.
Below is a look at the record of each BIG EAST team since league realignment in 2013:
BIG EAST VB Standings, 2013 - Aug. 27, 2025
BIG EAST only All matches
Team (NCAA Bids) W L W L
Creighton (12) 188 16 315 74
Marquette (11) 169 32 284 93
Xavier 116 86 179 170
St. John's (1) 104 100 222 161
Butler 103 101 178 176
Villanova (1) 100 104 188 163
Seton Hall (1) 86 117 167 186
DePaul 65 139 149 201
Georgetown 44 152 111 221
Connecticut# 42 38 79 62
Providence* 30 158 112 209
*Providence rejoined the league for volleyball in 2014 and
its 2013 overall record (12-20) is not included above.
#Connecticut rejoined the league in 2020 and
its record from 2013-19 (96-121) is not included above.
Against The BIG EAST
Since the BIG EAST was restructured in 2013, Creighton owns a winning percentage better than .750 against each of the other teams currently in the BIG EAST.
The Bluejays own 209 wins against BIG EAST competition (including BIG EAST Championship play) since 2013, 33 more wins than Marquette for most in the league.
CU still has not lost to three league foes (DePaul, Georgetown, Providence) since joining the BIG EAST, and Marquette (6), Villanova (3), Seton Hall (3) and St. John's (3) are the only BIG EAST programs to top the Bluejays multiple times since 2013.
Opponent Reg. Season BE Tourney Total
Butler 22-1 - 22-1
Connecticut 4-1 1-0 5-1
DePaul 24-0 3-0 27-0
Georgetown 22-0 - 22-0
Marquette 19-5 7-1 26-6
Providence 17-0 - 17-0
Seton Hall 19-3 2-0 21-3
St. John's 20-2 1-1 21-3
Villanova 19-3 3-0 22-3
Xavier 22-1 4-0 26-1
Total 188-16 21-2 209-18
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
RS/MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
RS/OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
RS/OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS
/ VolleyballAva Martin Highlights - 10/27/25
Monday, October 27
Annalea Maeder Highlights - 10/27/25
Monday, October 27
Creighton Volleyball Pink Out Recap vs. Seton Hall
Wednesday, October 22
Creighton Media Availability Volleyball - 10/21/25
Tuesday, October 21
