Creighton Volleyball vs Texas In Sweet 16 Friday

Dec 11, 2024 / Creighton Athletics

This Weekend
Sixth-ranked and second-seeded Creighton (31-2) continues play in the 2024 NCAA Tournament with a Regional Semifinal match-up against 13th-ranked and third-seeded Texas (20-6).
Play gets underway on Friday, Dec. 13 at 12 p.m. Central with the Creighton/Texas match, followed 30 minutes later by a match when fifth-seeded Marquette (25-8) faces top-seeded and second-ranked Penn State (31-2).
The winners of Friday's matches will meet in the Regional Final on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Central, with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
All the action will take place at Rec Hall (6,502) on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa.

Broadcast Information
Friday's match will be televised on ESPN2, and Sunday's contest would air on ESPN.
Paul Sunderland, Missy Whittemore and Shelby Coppedge will call the action.
The matches will also be streamed on ESPN+, which requires a subscription and can be watched at http://watchespn.com.

Live Stats Information
Links to live stats for the NCAA Tournament will be placed on the Creighton Volleyball Schedule page at GoCreighton.com.

Scouting #6 Creighton
Creighton has won a program-record 24 straight matches to improve to 31-2 this fall, tying a different team record for wins in a season.
Creighton won its 11th consecutive BIG EAST regular-season title, going 18-0 against league foes, while dropping just three sets, then swept through the BIG EAST Tournament for its 10th such crown in 11 seasons. Last weekend CU hosted a pair of sellout crowds at D.J. Sokol Arena, where it swept South Dakota and Ole Miss to reach the program's fourth Sweet 16.
Creighton's No. 6 slot in the AVCA rankings is one spot shy of its best ranking ever, and includes back-to-back Top 10 wins over then-No. 6 Purdue (3-1) and then-No. 10 Kansas (3-0) in late September as well as a triumph over then-No. 20 USC (3-1) on Sept. 5th.
All told, Creighton is 11-2 against teams that qualified for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Both losses have come in five sets on the road to top-five teams Nebraska and Louisville.
AVCA National Player of the Year Semifinalist Kendra Wait (11.11 aps., 2.91 dps., 1.05 kps., 0.91 bps., .402%) was named MVP of the BIG EAST Tournament and is also the back-to-back BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Setter of the Year. Outside hitters Norah Sis (3.88 kps., .318%, 0.42 saps.) and Ava Martin (3.67 kps., .327%, 0.49 saps.) give CU one of the best attacking duos in the country, as both women were named AVCA All-West Region and unanimous All-BIG EAST selections.
Kiara Reinhardt (1.48 bps.) leads the league in blocks per set, and transfers Maddy Bilinovic (3.85 dps.) and Elise Goetzinger (2.46 kps., 1.09 bps., .383%) have made an immediate impact and rank among the best in the league at their respective positions. All three women were named All-BIG EAST and AVCA All-Region.
CU leads the BIG EAST with 14.59 kills, 1.91 aces and 2.73 blocks per set. Its 14.52 digs per set rank just sixth in the league, but is more a result of some short rallies and strong block, as the Bluejays have been out-dug just twice all season. Creighton also ranks second nationally in both hitting percentage (.332) and opponent's hitting percentage (.124).

Scouting #13 Texas
The two-time defending national champion, Texas is the third seed in the Penn State Region and ranked 13th nationally.
The Longhorns are 20-6 on the season, including a 10-2 mark away from home, and have won eight in a row since losing three straight five-set home matches to unranked teams from Oct. 23-Nov. 3.
Madisen Skinner (4.29 kps., .283%), Reagan Rutherford (2.55 kps., .327%) and Jenna Wenaas (2.27 kps.) are the top Texas attackers, with Averi Carlson (8.38 aps.) and Ella Swindle (4.24 aps.) each seeing time at setter.
Marianna Singletary (1.91 kps., .357%, 1.44 bps.) leads the team in blocking and Emma Halter (3.45 dps.) is atop the UT digs chart.
The Longhorns average 13.69 kills, 13.28 digs, 2.61 blocks and 1.41 aces per set while hitting .286.

Series History vs. Texas
Texas swept Creighton in the Elite Eight in 2016 in Austin (25-19, 25-20, 25-11) in the only previous meeting between the schools.
Jaali Winters led Creighton with 11 kills and eight digs, while Ebony Nwanebu (13 kills) led the Longhorns.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 0-1 against Texas and Jerritt Elliott.

Creighton Coaches
Creighton is coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997), who owns a 501-191 record in her 22nd season with the Bluejays.
She's led Creighton to 11 straight BIG EAST regular-season titles (2014-24), and 12 league crowns in the previous 13 years. Booth guided the Bluejays to their first four Sweet 16's (2015, 2016, 2023, 2024) and first Elite Eight (2016) in program history. In 2016 she was recognized as VolleyballMag.com National Coach of the Year, BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA East Region Coach of the Year. Booth was tabbed BIG EAST Coach of the Year and AVCA Region Coach of the Year for the fifth time in 2024.
The winningest coach in school history, Booth has taken Creighton to its only 14 NCAA Tournament bids in the program's modern history. She's also coached CU into the top-25 each of the last 13 seasons (including 2024), another program first.
She is currently serving as President of the AVCA.
Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
Booth is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Brian Rosen and Adam Kessenich.

With A Win On Friday...
- Creighton would win its 25th match in a row, extending the nation's longest active win streak while also extending the longest win streak in program history.
- Creighton would win its 32nd match of the season, setting a single-season team record. The 32 wins would also be tied for the national lead.
- Creighton would improve to 17-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 2-2 record in the Regional Semifinal round.
- Creighton would improve to 4-2 this year against Top 25 opponents, and 30-88 all-time under Kirsten Bernthal Booth.
- Creighton would tie a program record with its fourth Top 25 win of the fall.
- Creighton would improve to 2-5 all-time against defending national champions.
- Creighton would improve to 20-2 on neutral floors during the last four seasons.
- Creighton would improve to 8-4 all-time in neutral-site matches in the NCAA Tournament.
- Creighton would improve to 3-7 against Top 16 national seeds in the NCAA Tournament
- Creighton would improve to 1-1 all-time against Texas.
- Texas would be the 101st different school that Kirsten Bernthal Booth has beaten as Creighton coach.
- Creighton would advance to its second Regional Final in program history, and first such appearance since 2016.
- Earn itself a spot in Sunday's 7:30 p.m. Central Regional Final against the winner of Friday afternoon's Marquette/Penn State victor. That match would air on ESPN.

Creighton's NCAA Tournament History
Creighton is making its 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past 15 years after earning a 13th straight bid to the Big Dance. The Bluejays made their NCAA debut in 2010 and have been in every tournament since then with the exception of 2011.
The Bluejays are 16-13 in those 14 appearances, and have knocked off the likes of Iowa State (2010 and 2019), Marquette (2012), Arkansas (2013), Coastal Carolina (2015 and 2017), No. 23 North Carolina (2015), Northern Iowa (2016), No. 4 Kansas (2016), No. 17 Michigan (2016), South Dakota (2018 and 2024), Ole Miss (2021 and 2024), Colgate (2023) and Minnesota (2023).
Creighton is 10-3 in First Round play, 3-7 in the Second Round, 1-2 in the Regional Semifinals and 0-1 in the Regional Finals. The Bluejays are 5-4 at home, 7-4 in neutral-site matches and 2-5 in true road matches.
Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 16-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is the only Bluejay head coach to lead the program into the postseason. Booth is making her 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament as Creighton's coach, more than any other coach in any other Bluejay sport ever.

NCAA Tourney Streak
The inclusion of Creighton Volleyball into the 2024 NCAA Tournament, extends an impressive streak for Bluejay athletics.
This year marks the 38th straight academic calendar year that Creighton has had at least one NCAA Tournament team.

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.