What can cure a Creighton volleyball team trying to bounce back from a 1-2 weekend?
Dodge ball.
Dodge ball?
The Bluejays enjoyed a dodge ball-type of drill this week during practice after a physical and emotional couple weekends on the road. The Jays prepare to play at home following a trip Kentucky at the Commonwealth Classic, where they went 1-2 against three teams that will likely be in the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season.
The past week was especially hard for the team. They hit the road without Jess Bird, who had her knee scoped and will be out for several weeks, and without Michelle Sicner, whose mother passed away before the invite started last Friday.
Physically, the Jays had a tough time on the road too. The Memorial Coliseum is not DJ Sokol Arena; all four teams in the invite played in less than ideal conditions, with warmth and humidity inside the coliseum leading to issues for the players.
“Physically it was tough because Kentucky had a non-air conditioned gym and we played three of the top teams in the country,” said coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth. “It was very challenging that way.”
In their opening match against Northern Iowa, the Bluejays lost the first two sets in pretty decisive fashion before heading into the break. Whether it was the environment, the depth, or the emotional news of the day, no one really knew for sure, but Booth didn’t make adjustments.
“I wanted to yell at them because I thought their play was very, very subpar the first two games to put it mildly. It wasn’t because they didn’t care. I think to some degree they had points in the Northern Iowa match they pressed too hard. They wanted it so badly.
In that case they talked about playing for Cheryl [Sicner] and playing for Michelle that equated to stress and nerves and not performing. We just said, ‘If we lose we lose. Go out and play volleyball like you play volleyball and let the chips fall and don’t worry about the score. Just take it 5 points at a time and play your hardest and that is going to make everyone proud.’
They came out and settled down. When we play hard we are a good team. When we stress ourselves out, arm swings can get slow, sets can get tentative and passers can get passive, but nothing tactical.”
Bounce back they did. The Jays turned everything around and dominated the Panthers in the final three sets to get through Friday night with a 3-2 victory.
On Saturday, Creighton faced off against two top 25 teams starting off with No. 6 USC. The Bluejays built upon the momentum they had on Friday night against UNI and took the first set from the Trojans. That raised some eyebrows, as it was the only time this season USC has trailed in the match after any set. Unfortunately, the Jays then lost in straight sets after that to lose to the Trojans. There is a reason why they are the No. 6 team in the country.
“USC just has different athletes than Kentucky and Northern Iowa. They are just so physical. Our mentality against USC was that every time we send the ball over the net we need to be swinging for a kill because you don’t want to give a team like that the opportunity to swing back at you. I like that it forced us to be aggressive. We did a lot of good things defensively. Our defensive players really dug some great balls. A lot of fun points in a fun match.”
Then in the nightcap, the Bluejays had finally hit the wall as they were swept in straight sets by No. 16 Kentucky. The hometown Wildcats came out early and dispelled any thoughts of an upset.
“Kentucky was a bit of a disappointment,” sad Booth on the team’s performance. “I thought physically we matched up and that we were the better offensive team. No disrespect to Kentucky, I think they are a great team, but fatigue set in no question. Kentucky didn’t play that morning and we did. I wish we had another opportunity against Kentucky. I would love an opportunity to play them in the (NCAA) Tournament. It would be a battle. They are a fantastic team and well coached. They will continue to get better, but this is one that I wish we could have back.”
This weekend, the Bluejays finally open the home season of the schedule hosting their annual Bluejay Invitational. Pepperdine, Bowling Green and former MVC foe Wichita State come to town this weekend to battle for a title that has yet to be captured by the Bluejays heading into the tournament’s 10th year. But that doesn’t matter to Booth.
“I want to win games. I don’t have any worries about that, and then (SID) Rob (Anderson) writes that down,” said Booth on winning the Bluejay Invitational. “We need to win matches. Every time we go on the court we need to have the mentality of winning a match. I hope we win the title because I hope we win three matches this weekend. The fact that we never won a Bluejay Invitational title, to me, yes I look back and think there are some we should have won, but we bring in great competition to this tournament every year and lost a good match.”
At 3-3, the Bluejays enter the week not losing any ground in the polls. They’re still receiving enough votes to remain “No. 29” in the top 25. They head into this weekend looking for some solid wins and to get back in the national conversation.
The first match for Creighton comes on Friday night in their first ever meeting with Pepperdine. The Waves are also 3-3 after going 1-2 in their three matches at UC-Irvine last weekend. Half of their matches have gone five sets with them coming out winners in two of those three matches. Pepperdine has a new coach and runs a 6-2 offense. This should be an opportunity to get the first game nervousness out of the way so they can focus on the rest of the weekend
“I think we have to work through nerves on Friday. That first match at home, everyone wants to perform at home. Their family is here, their friends are here, so we will just have to settle down and play our game and focus on the process. Hopefully good things will come out of that.”
The Bluejays will turn around on Saturday for two matches to close out the event. First they take on Bowling Green at noon. Creighton won the only other meeting against them last season at the Hampton Inn Invitational that Bowling Green hosted. Although it was a 3-0 sweep by the Bluejays, the Falcons kept it close (25-23, 26-24, 27-25). This could be another great matchup with a team that might be starting to find themselves. They started 0-3 at home the first weekend, but went 2-1 last weekend on the road.
“We snuck out with a great victory against them last year that was just a battle. They are a very well coached team with some new faces and will be tough.”
The second match of the day on Saturday is against a well-known foe, Wichita State. Both schools battled each other as members of the MVC for many, many years. Even with the move to the Big East last season, the Bluejays played Wichita St. on the road at one of their invites. The Bluejays won that one 3-2 and Saturday’s matchup could be another five-set affair, with the Shockers already playing four five-set matches this season. Although the Shockers have started 4-3 and appear to be a young team, they always rise up against the Bluejays.
Creighton’s weekend schedule
Friday vs. Pepperdine; 7 p.m.
Saturday vs. Bowling Green; Noon
Saturday vs. Wichita State; 7:30 p.m.
Sicner’s status uncertain
Michelle Sicner’s mother lost her battle with colon cancer last week. Michelle and did not make the trip to Lexington last weekend so she could spend time with her family. Her status for this weekend’s matches is still unknown at this point.
“I definitely think with what Michelle has gone through it has been really hard on all of us,” said teammate Maggie Baumert. “But it gives us motivation to play harder and we have something bigger than ourselves to be playing for.”
Booth extended her support to Sicner and her family as well as how the rest of the team will adjust as the season goes along.
“We all ache Michelle in a very deep way. We wish we could make it better and we can’t. I don’t think emotional drain is going to change because it is a new normal with Michelle and you could argue the toughest part is in front of her-she has to deal without having a mom. I think it makes all of us look at our own family and mortality through this. I don’t think we are though it but we will find our new normal just like Michelle will.”
Sicner approached a quadruple-double against Wichita State last season with 45 assists, 14 digs, 7 blocks and 6 kills.
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Baumert settling in
Setters Baumert and Kenzie Crawford both played last weekend at the Commonwealth Classic with Baumert handling the setting duties; Crawford was used mostly for defense. With a few games of experience with Creighton, Baumert is settling in just fine with the rest of the Bluejays.
“Our team has had a really great start, although we have not won every game, we have played really good volleyball and that will give us confidence. This preseason we are playing a lot of top 15 teams. We have a tough schedule but I think our team is ready to do it. It will get us ready for the Big East.”
For Baumert, bonding with her teammates has been the biggest difference between her seasons at Georgia and now joining the Bluejays.
“I think I have formed some better relationships with my teammates here and my personality fits in better here than in Georgia, so I am having a good time.”
Baumert prepares for each game the same way, whether she’s starting at setter, rotating with others, or even watching from the sidelines.
“We work on being consistent. We have been working on that since the beginning of the season. Play at a top level all the time every day at practice and every match. We work on staying consistent on our side.”
On Friday night, Baumert will step foot into Sokol Arena for her first regular season match as a Creighton Bluejay.
“I’m really excited to see the atmosphere here is like and the environment. And to have my family here, which is something I am not used to, I am really excited. I haven’t even been to a Creighton volleyball match yet.”
She should get a great hometown welcome on Friday night.
Notes:
- Adding to the absence of Sicner and Bird, the Bluejays are also dealing with illness going around. Middle blocker Kelli Browning was not at practice on Wednesday due to illness and the coaching staff expressed to the team to wash their hands after contact with everyone and everything to keep it from spreading.
- All three Creighton matches can be heard on the radio this weekend. Brad Burwell and Erin (Swanson) Russell will be on The Mighty 1290 KOIL for Friday night’s match and then on 1180 the Zone 2 for both of Saturday’s matches.
- The match against Wichita State on Saturday night will be broadcast on TV. You can find the game int he Omaha metro on Cox Channel 122 or in the Wichita area on Cox channel 22.
- In the 10-year history of the Bluejay Invitational, Creighton has never won this invitational. Each team that has won the invite has gone undefeated during the weekend.
- The first set is key for the Bluejays to be successful. They are 177-21 when it wins set one. They have also won 34 straight at home when winning the first set.
- Creighton will head to Nebraska in a mid-week game before coming back to Sokol Arena next weekend to host the Creighton Classic against Illinois, South Dakota and Colorado.
