This Weekend
Sept. 3 4:30 pm Wake Forest vs. Iowa St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)
Sept. 3 7:00 pm Creighton at Saint Louis (KKAR 1290 AM) St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)

Sept. 4 9:30 am Wake Forest at Saint Louis St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)
Sept. 4 11:30 am Iowa vs. Creighton (KKAR 1290 AM) St. Louis, Mo.(Chaifetz Arena)
Sept. 4 5:00 pm Creighton vs. Wake Forest (KKAR 1290 AM) St. Louis,Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)
Sept. 4 7:00 pm Iowa at Saint Louis St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)

This Weekend
Creighton (1-3) hits the road for the first time this fall, travelling to St. Louis, Mo., for the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge.

The Bluejays will play three matches while in St. Louis, starting with a 7 pm match on Friday night against host Saint Louis (1-2).

On Saturday, Creighton takes on undefeated Iowa (3-0) at 11:30 am before a quick turnaround to take on ACC foe Wake Forest (2-1) at 5:30 pm.

The matches will take place in Chaifetz Arena (10,600).

Tuesday, Aug. 31
No. 7 Nebraska at Creighton • D.J. Sokol Arena • 7 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: Huskers.com & www.gocreightonstats.com

BYU Tournament
No. 7 Nebraska at BYU • Friday, Sept. 3 • Smith Fieldhouse • 8 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: TBA

No. 7 Nebraska vs. Cal Poly • Saturday, Sept. 4 • Smith Fieldhouse • 1 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: TBA

Next Match

Creighton (1-2) hosts in-state rival Nebraska (1-1) in a Tuesday night match slated for a 7 pm start.

It will mark the Cornhuskers first visit to the Creighton campus for a regular-season volleyball match since a 1980 contest in the Kiewit Center.

The match will be held at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center. Capacity for the facility is listed at 2,950. The match is sold out.

Radio Broadcast Information
Tuesday¹s match will be broadcast on radio by KKAR (1290 AM).

This Weekend -- Bluejay Invitational
Aug. 27 4:30 pm Kansas vs. Lipscomb Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

Aug. 27 6:30 pm San Francisco at Creighton (1290 KKAR) Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

Aug. 28 10 am San Francisco vs. Kansas Omaha, Neb. (D.J. Sokol Arena)

OMAHA - The Creighton volleyball team plays its annual Blue-White scrimmage on Saturday at 6:30 pm at D.J. Sokol Arena inside the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center. Admission to the exhibition match will be free, with doors opening at 5:30 pm.

The match will also see the volleyball debut of Creighton's new live stats format provided by BCS Stats Systems. The direct link for Saturday's match can be found here. A new feature for Creighton live stats this year is a mobile device option, fans wanting to follow on their mobile devices can do so at www.gocreightonstats.com. Live video will again be available for purchase of every home volleyball match this year, at this link.

After Saturday's exhibition, Creighton will open the regular-season next Friday (Aug. 27) with the Bluejay Invitational. The event starts at 4:30 pm with a contest between Lipscomb and Kansas. Creighton then opens its season at 6:30 pm with a match versus San Francisco.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Creighton volleyball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference, according to a poll of league coaches announced today.

Creighton¹s preseason prognosis of fourth place ties marks the seventh straight season of a top-five prediction. In the previous 16 seasons, Creighton has improved its preseason ranking eight times, been ranked correctly five times, and dropped from preseason expectations just three times. Notably, all seven of Creighton¹s previous teams under head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth have met or exceeded preseason poll predictions.

Defending regular-season and tournament champion Northern Iowa received all 10 first place votes to earn the preseason favorite role. UNI is the first league¹s unanimous favorite since it was given a similar nod prior to the 2003 season.

2009 Year-End Recap
The opening of D.J. Sokol Arena in the Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic
Center and the first visit of the State Farm MVC Tournament to Omaha
highlighted Creighton¹s 2009 Volleyball season. The first-class facility
will give the Bluejays an on-campus home for years to come and the intimate
atmosphere helped Creighton to a 10-5 record at home in its inaugural year.
Creighton would open the building with a 3-0 win over Big 12 school
Texas Tech on August 28th in the opening match of the Bluejay Invitational.
The day featured a memorable dedication ceremony in the morning, followed by
the season-opening romp that evening before an enthusiastic crowd of 2,285
students, boosters and community leaders.
One day later No. 10 Illinois would claim the Bluejay Invitational
crown, beating both Texas Tech and Creighton. The field was cut to three
teams when Tulane dropped out 48 hours before the tournament was to begin
when the Green Wave team was hit by the H1N1 virus.
The schedule would get even tougher three nights later when the Jays
took on the nation¹s No. 6 team, Nebraska, at the NU Coliseum.
CU¹s non-conference gauntlet continued the following weekend in
Lawrence, Kan., when CU had a disappointing 0-3 weekend. Creighton lost to a
pair of close matches to NCAA Tournament teams (Florida International and
Lipscomb) before falling in four sets to host Kansas.
The following weekend CU headed to Dayton, Ohio, where it snapped a rare
five-match losing streak with a sweep of Samford. The following afternoon
was full of heartbreak, as CU wasted a 2-1 lead in a loss to Connecticut
before blowing a 2-0 lead at undefeated Dayton while losing both contests in
five sets.
Creighton shook off its 2-8 start, coming home to start Missouri Valley
Conference play. The Jays opened league action with a four-set win over
Bradley before losing in four sets to eventual MVC champ Northern Iowa.
Those matches would mark the final ones of the season for senior MB Lauren
Bloemke, who would seek a medical hardship season after never fully
recovering from off-season knee surgery.
Creighton would continue its upswing with three wins in its next four
matches, including a 3-1 upset of No. 25 Wichita State. That win snapped
CU¹s 0-35 drought against ranked teams, and proved the team could compete
with anyone.
The Jays would split their next 16 matches, going 8-8 down the stretch.
The stretch included a 3-1 Senior Night win over Evansville on Nov. 14 as
well as a 3-0 win at Bradley a week later to close the regular-season. The
victory over the Braves clinched a share of fourth-place for CU as well as a
sixth-straight season of 10 or more league triumphs.
Creighton then hosted the State Farm MVC Tournament for the first time
in program history, a nod to the program¹s recent success as well as its new
facility. Creighton would sweep fifth-seeded Drake in the quarterfinal round
before seeing its season end at the hands of Northern Iowa for the fifth
consecutive year in the MVC Tournament. The top-seeded Panthers beat CU in
three sets en route to eventually winning the tournament title the following
day vs. Wichita State.
Statistically Creighton¹s 2009 season will best be remembered for the
record-setting block it put up. Creighton¹s 3.08 blocks per set, 354.5 total
blocks and 599 block assists all shattered previous school records.
Creighton would finish the season ranked third nationally in blocks per set,
with senior Jessica Houts (1.44 bps.) finishing 12th-best nationally and
sophomore Laurel Sanford (1.30) not far behind at 25th in the country.
Houts enjoyed a memorable senior year on campus, repeating first-team
all-MVC accolades. Houts led Creighton in kills (331), kills per set (2.88),
hitting percentage (.254), total blocks (166), block assists (154), and
blocks per set (1.44) while doing a little bit of everything.
Allie Oelke enjoyed a solid junior season, ranking second on the team
with 2.64 kills and 3.30 digs and fourth with 0.73 blocks per set. Oelke
also turned in a team-best 12 double-doubles on the season.
Sanford was fourth on the team in kills per set but second in blocks
while making tremendous strides in her development as an all-around force.
Senior Sarah Schulze started most matches as well, averaging 1.22 kills
and 2.80 digs per set while playing all six rotations. She closed her career
in the top-10 in CU history with 1,056 career digs.
After sitting out 2008 as a redshirt, Alicia Runge showed glimpses of
brilliance in her junior season. Runge finished third on the team in kills
per set (2.37) and played her best ball of the season down the stretch.
Runge was not the only newcomer making an impact, as a talented group of
freshmen also were difference-makers.
Megan Bober highlighted that group, starting every match as Creighton¹s
setter and eventually landing a spot on the MVC¹s All-Freshman Team. Bober
averaged 9.63 assists per set and her 107 blocks and 0.93 blocks per set
were both school marks for a Bluejay setter.
Junior-college transfer Nayka Benitez came in to the program to play
libero, and delivered 4.49 digs per set. She also would rank in the top-100
nationally with 43 aces and 0.37 aces per set.
Helping to stabilize the back row with Benitez was defensive specialists
Brooke Boggs and Lisa Greisch. Boggs made 11 starts and averaged 1.20 digs
per set, while Greisch averaged 1.18 digs per set and made four starts this
fall.
Reserve setter Brittany Moon played sparingly, but did contribute two
assists and two digs on the season. She did start the third set of a late
home match against Southern Illinois, helping CU to a 6-3 lead while Bober
was out receiving intravenous fluids.
The Jays also used four other attacking players in a variety of roles.
Senior MB Lauren Bloemke came into the season as a returning starter but
would appear in just eight matches due to ongoing complications from
off-season knee surgery. Bloemke would see most of her time as a serving
specialist.
Sophomore Karisa Almgren gave the Jays a secret weapon off the bench.
Almgren had 13 kills and eight blocks in 15 contests as a reserve. Several
times during the year Almgren would be called on to provide a spark or to
help a struggling offense.
Heather Thorson also was employed in a similar role as Almgren, albeit
from the middle. Thorson started Creighton¹s first six matches on the right
side, as well as Creighton¹s Nov. 20 match at Northern Iowa in hte middle.
Thorson would average 0.59 kills and 0.45 blocks during her rookie campaign.
An additional freshman, Caitlin Templeton, would finish the year with
two kills in three swings and also contribute one digs and one block in four
appearances.
With everyone except Houts and Schulze back for the fall of 2010, hopes
remain high that the Bluejays can ride their late-season flurry into another
upper-division finish next season.

maha, Neb. - After dropping a heartbreaking five-set match on Sunday to Florida during the finale of the Runza/AVCA Showcase at the Qwest Center, the No. 7 Nebraska volleyball returned to Omaha on Tuesday night to post hard-fought sweep of the Creighton Bluejays (26-24, 25-18, 25-15) in front of a sold-out crowd at the D.J. Sokol Arena.

Jordan Wilberger came off the Husker bench to give Nebraska a boost in her first action of the year, as put away eight kills on just 13 swings (.615) and added five blocks, including one solo stuff. Sydney Anderson contributed her first double-double of the year with 20 assists and 10 digs, while Brooke Delano led all Husker attackers with 10 kills.

Playing at the Sokol Arena for the first time in program history, the Huskers got out to a slow start in set one as Creighton took the first two points and continued to build its lead throughout the set, including six-point leads at 18-12 and 20-14. With the Jays knocking on the first-set door at 23-18, the Huskers dug deep with a 6-1 run to tie the score at 24 apiece. Following a Creighton timeout, Tara Mueller continued to control the Jays' defense with her serve to force Creighton into committing two errors and give the Huskers set one, 26-24.

Read Patrick Marshall's story on White and Blue Review

OMAHA - This is the second installment of White & Blue Review’s 2010 Creighton volleyball season preview. Join us every day this week as we take a look at each part of Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s club, leading up to the start of their season and the Blue-White Scrimmage on Saturday, August 21.

Sanford and Thorson expected to lead

Click to view Chad Purcell's story on Omaha World-Herald

OMAHA - Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth takes some comfort in knowing that the Bluejays bring back so many regulars from their 2009 lineup. But Booth said none of her returning players should feel comfortable about their role on the team just yet.

Coming off a 14-17 season in which the Bluejays won eight of their final 13 matches, Booth said the competition will be wide open as the team holds its first practice on Monday.