Creighton Volleyball Notes Volleyball SID
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Creighton Volleyball Notes Volleyball SID ...............Rob Anderson Anderson office phone ..... 402-280-5544 (o) For more information contact Sports Information Director Rob Anderson at (402) 280-5544 Anderson cell phone..........402-660-5854 Anderson e-mail ... [email protected] 2015 Year-End Creighton Volleyball Recap On The Web ............ GoCreighton.com Creighton Athletics Twitter .... @GoCreighton The Creighton Volleyball team set, and accom- against Pacific in the championship match of the Creighton Volleyball Twitter . @CreightonVB plished, many of its lofty goals for the 2015 Bluejay Invitational. season. A midweek loss to No. 4 Nebraska before the A BIG EAST regular-season title? Check. nation’s largest regular-season crowd of 2015 2015 Volleyball Schedule A BIG EAST Championship title? Cross it off (10,131) dropped CU to 4-6 after a loss to the August the list. eventual national champions. 21 Fri. BLUE-WHITE SCRIMMAGE (Ex.) Tied 2-2 An NCAA Tournament bid? Mission accom- The non-conference gauntlet wrapped up with Illini Classic (Champaign, Ill.) plished. the Creighton Classic when three more teams 28 Fri. vs. Miami W 3-2 A spot in the Sweet 16? Consider it done. with postseason aspirations arrived in Omaha. 29 Sat. vs. Louisville L 2-3 Creighton’s 2015 season didn’t record the Creighton swept Arkansas to open play before 29 Sat. at #8 Illinois L 0-3 most wins in program history, but that’s about falling to No. 11 Wisconsin in its second match. September the only mark of substance that didn’t fall during One day later, Creighton started a 10-week hot UNI Tournament (Cedar Falls, Iowa) a memorable year that saw the Bluejays as one streak with a comeback win over Kansas State. 4 Fri. vs. #8 USC L 0-3 of the final nine teams remaining in the NCAA In the victory over the Wildcats, CU overcame 5 Sat. at Northern Iowa L 1-3 Tournament. an 0-2 deficit at home for the first time in program 5 Sat. vs. #10 Kentucky W 3-0 The bar was set high heading into 2015, with history, as setter Maggie Baumert came off the Bluejay Invitational (Omaha, Neb.) 11 letterwinners and four starters (plus its libero) bench at intermission to lead the turnaround and 11 Fri. LIPSCOMB W 3-0 returning from last year’s 25-9 team that won the freshman Jaali Winters (25 kills) showed fans a 12 Sat. CSU BAKERSFIELD W 3-1 regular-season and tournament titles in the BIG glimpse of what was to come. 12 Sat. PACIFIC L 1-3 EAST Conference. In the end, the leadership of Creighton was near-unbeatable the next two 15 Tue. #4 NEBRASKA# L 0-3 the most successful senior class in program his- months during a 22-1 stretch that had BIG EAST tory, plus the contributions from the team’s high- foes wondering what had hit them. Creighton Classic (Omaha, Neb.) est-ranked recruiting class ever, helped make Creighton started league play with a four-set 18 Fri. ARKANSAS W 3-0 19 Sat. #11 WISCONSIN L 0-3 2015 one for the scrapbook. win over 2014 nemesis Seton Hall before fol- 20 Sun. KANSAS STATE W 3-2 The season began in Champaign, Ill., where lowing with another four-set victory over upstart Creighton rallied to defeat Miami (Ohio) in five Villanova. Few could have predicted at the 25 Fri. SETON HALL* (BEDN) W 3-1 sets before a five-set defeat against eventual time it’d be a preview of the 2015 BIG EAST 27 Sun. VILLANOVA* W 3-1 national seed Louisville. The Bluejays rounded Championship title tilt, as ‘Nova was picked sev- October out that first weekend with a loss at No. 8 Illinois, enth in the league poll. 2 Fri. at St. John’s* W 3-1 one of five top-11 teams that CU would square Creighton won its first nine matches in October, 3 Sat. at Providence* W 3-0 off against in the first four weeks of the season. including a sweep of Marquette and a comeback 6 Tue. GEORGETOWN* W 3-0 Losses to new-No. 8 USC and tournament from down 0-2 against DePaul. 9 Fri. DEPAUL* (Pink Out) W 3-2 11 Sun. MARQUETTE* (BEDN) W 3-0 host Northern Iowa left CU searching for answers Villanova snapped the win streak at 12 on Oct. 16 Fri. at Butler* W 3-1 after a 1-4 start and several key preseason inju- 30th in Pennsylvania, falling 19-17 in the fifth set. 17 Sat. at Xavier* W 3-1 ries. Creighton responded from the rare conference 23 Fri. PROVIDENCE* W 3-0 But the season would turn the afternoon loss with a 3-0 win at Seton Hall, its first victory in 25 Sun. ST. JOHN’S* W 3-0 30 Fri. at Villanova* L 2-3 of Sept. 5 as Creighton swept then-No. 10 three tries at Walsh Gymnasium, before sweep- 31 Sat. at Seton Hall* W 3-0 Kentucky. It was CU’s first win ever over a top-10 ing Marquette in Milwaukee. foe, and also saw the debut of a new line-up in The regular-season title was clinched with a November which Marysa Wilkinson moved to the middle. 3-0 victory Nov. 13 vs. Xavier, and the seniors 6 Fri. at Marquette* (BEDN) W 3-0 7 Sat. at DePaul* W 3-1 Creighton rode that momentum to wins over celebrated two days later after a sweep of Butler. 13 Fri. XAVIER* (BEDN) W 3-0 Lipscomb and CSU Bakersfield before a setback Creighton closed the regular-season by over- 15 Sun. BUTLER* (Senior Day) W 3-0 20 Fri. at Georgetown* (BEDN) W 3-2 Creighton (27-9, 17-1 BIG EAST) Most Frequent Starters BIG EAST Championship (Omaha, Neb.) No. Name (Starts) Ht. Yr. Pos. Hometown KPS Pct. DPS Other 27 Fri. MARQUETTE (BEDN) W 3-2 2 Melanie Jereb (20) 6-2 Sr. OH/DS Cary, Ill. .12 .034 2.16 .10 saps. 4 Maggie Baumert (19) 6-2 Sr. S Elkhorn, Neb. .90 .279 2.32 10.96 aps. 28 Sat. VILLANOVA (FOX Sports 2) W 3-0 5 Jaali Winters (35) 6-2 Fr. OH Ankeny, Iowa 4.07 .232 2.49 .44 bps. December 9 Marysa Wilkinson (36) 6-0 So. RS/MB Lincoln, Neb. 2.13 .302 .35 .96 bps. NCAA Tournament (Chapel Hill, N.C.) 11 Kate Elman (0) 5-6 Sr. L Omaha, Neb. .01 .000 4.17 .25 saps. 4 Fri. vs. Coastal Carolina W 3-1 13 Jess Bird (33) 5-11 Jr. OH Bennington, Neb. 2.80 .213 2.77 .31 bps. 5 Sat. at #23 North Carolina W 3-1 16 Lauren Smith (36) 6-4 Jr. MB Lincoln, Neb. 2.47 .343 .39 1.27 bps. Reserves NCAA Tournament (San Diego, Calif.) No. Name (Starts) Ht. Yr. Pos. Hometown KPS Pct. DPS Other 11 Fri. vs. #2 USC (ESPNU) L 1-3 1 Ashley Jansen (8) 5-7 Sr. DS/S Omaha, Neb. .03 .091 1.97 1.32 aps. 3 Kelsey O’Connell (3) 6-3 Fr. MB Omaha, Neb. .53 .097 .18 .42 bps. *Denotes BIG EAST Conference matches. All Times Central. 7 Amanda Foje (0) 5-5 Jr. DS Omaha, Neb. .00 --- .28 .16 saps. Home matches in BOLD CAPS played at D.J. Sokol Arena unless 8 Samantha Bohnet (1) 5-7 Fr. DS/S Council Bluffs, Iowa .00 --- 1.18 4.36 aps. noted. 10 Kenzie Crawford (10) 5-9 So. S Grand Rapids, Mich. .80 .354 2.33 8.80 aps. # Match at CenturyLink Center Omaha. 12 Taryn Kloth (11) 6-4 Fr. RS Sioux Falls, S.D. 1.86 .216 .41 .72 bps. 14 Brittany Lawrence (2) 6-4 Fr. MB North Platte, Neb. .67 .125 .20 .33 bps. 17 Lizzy Stivers (1) 5-11 Sr. OH/DS Pebble Beach, Calif. .14 .111 .14 .04 saps. coming its third 0-2 hole of the fall, this time at BIG EAST honoree, but she showed her value to Creighton Quick Facts Georgetown, to finish league play at 17-1. the team at the league championship when she General Information The BIG EAST Championship visited Omaha earned MVP honors. Location.......................Omaha, Neb. on Thanksgiving weekend, and for the second Also playing a starring role for CU in 2015 Founded .............................1878 straight year Creighton went on to win it. was Kate Elman. The four-year libero ended her The Bluejays nearly squandered a 2-0 lead career with nearly every digging record in pro- Enrollment............................8,435 over Marquette in the semifinals, only to hold gram history, becoming the first Bluejay to reach Nickname..........................Bluejays on to win a wild fifth set 15-10. One day later 2,000 career digs in the process. President . Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, S.J., Ph.D. Creighton avenged its lone BIG EAST defeat of Directing the Creighton team in 2015 was Director of Athletics.........Bruce Rasmussen the fall with a 3-0 sweep of Villanova in perhaps Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who guided CU to its the team’s best contest of the fall. Jess Bird was third league regular-season title and third league Senior Woman Administrator . Brandy Menaugh named Tournament MVP after a big champion- tournament title in the past four years. Booth was Colors .......................Blue and White ship match. recognized as the AVCA’s East Region Coach Affiliation....................NCAA Division I In perhaps the biggest upset of its season, of the Year, and she and her assistants were Conference .......................BIG EAST Creighton was awarded the No.