One more day.
After all of the two-a-days, intra-squad scrimmages, and strength and conditioning sessions all that separates the 23rd-ranked Creighton Bluejay volleyball team from the anticipated season in school history is one more day.
The return of all but one player from a team that completed a second straight run to the NCAA tournament in 2013 has understandably increased the level of excitement surrounding head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s program. With that run of success come the expectations to take it a step further, both from the players and coaching staff as well as the fans cheering them on. Now after all of the work behind the scenes, it’s almost time for the team to take the court against a real opponent, in matches that count.
Are they ready?
Even after all these years on the sideline, Booth still isn’t sure, but she is ready to find out.
“You’d think after 12 years that I would have a pulse of this, but the fact is I never know for sure if we’re ready,” she said. “I think they’ve been working hard. Sometimes in practice I think we look good, and other times I think we look bad. The fact is it’s time to go play someone on the other side of the net.”
In order to find out if they are ready for the 2014 season the Bluejays will travel to the place where the 2013 season ended: Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. There the Jays, preseason favorites to win the Big East, will play three matches in two days, including two against teams in Lipscomb and Kansas that Creighton is a combined 1-8 against all-time. The last time Creighton played Lipscomb they fell in four sets at the 2010 Bluejay Invitational. The history with Kansas is a bit more recent as the Jayhawks eliminated the Bluejays from the 2013 NCAA Tournament less than nine months ago. The opponent caught in between those two matches, Utah Valley State, has never faced Creighton before.
Check out photos from the Blue-White scrimmage!
Though the payback angle exists, the Bluejays insist they aren’t looking to alter the past this weekend, but rather earn respect for the future.
“Obviously we want to beat them, but the fuel behind that is it’s a new year,” said junior libero Kate Elman. “We want to show what we can do. It’s more of we want to come out and show people what we’ve been working on.”
Coach Booth echoed Elman’s sentiment, saying that she’s just concerned with how Lipscomb and Kansas stack up with her current squad.
“I have not thought of that, and I’m being honest. Everything that we do in the non-conference is RPI-driven of what we need to accomplish to set ourselves up to get an at-large bid,” she said. “I want to beat KU because they are a good team, they’re going to play in the Big 12, and have a good RPI. For me it’s not a grudge match. If it is for the players then more power to them. I think they will be up for a great match because it will be two great teams and a great atmosphere.”
She interrupted herself while talking about the rematch with Kansas to highlight the fact that Lipscomb was one of the teams that concerned her the most considering how much of a challenge they will be present right off the bat.
“I said to the players the first day we met for the preseason that there is two games that scare me to death as far as making sure we’re ready, and Lipscomb was one of the two. The reason being is that they are very well-coached, they are picked to win the Atlantic Sun, and their RPI is usually in the top 50. This is a team that has some stud seniors, so honestly I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about KU. I’ve been pretty consumed with trying to make sure we’re ready for Lipscomb, and I’m telling you that’s honest. That’s not coach-speak.”
One area that should help deal with the early challenges is the amount of experience the Jays will begin the season with. Sometimes with a team that has quality depth at each position, it can be challenging to build good chemistry while also bringing out the best in each other competitively. However, senior outside hitter Leah McNary says team chemistry has been good throughout her career and that, along with the team trip to Nicaragua over the summer, has helped as everyone has pushed each other for the upcoming season.
“I think we’ve really balanced the competition and the chemistry,” McNary said. “We only added three people and they are integrating really easily. All of the girls are local so we saw them over summer. The trip over the summer, like any trip, only made the chemistry stronger. I think we’ve had great chemistry for the past three years, so I think that only made it better.”
While Booth acknowledges that there will be challenges along the way as individuals battle for playing time, she believes her team is capable of dealing with those situations as they arise.
“That comes down to the character of the players,” she said. “I think we try to address those situations prior and talk about it, and explain that we know with competitive people and really great volleyball players that some people are going to be on the bench that are going to be disappointed. We get that, and we want you to be disappointed because that’s why you’re a competitor and that’s why you have to come to practice the following week to try to earn that spot back.
“But we also have an expectation in the program that the role that I’m given I’m going to embrace at that time and be a great teammate. That’s easier said than done, as we all know, but I do think we have a group of young women that understand this. They maybe won’t be satisfied with the position that they are in, if it’s not that starting role, but I don’t think they are the type of kids that are going to take away from the team or play the pity-party so the energy is focused on them. That’s my vibe with this team, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
The Bluejays begin the season Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. against Lipscomb. They will then play Utah Valley State at 5:30 p.m. later that day before returning to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday to face the No. 22 Kansas Jayhawks at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN3.
