The 2012 Creighton Volleyball program reached new heights this season. Not only did they win the Missouri Valley Conference regular season, but also took home the MVC Tournament hardware and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In a conference with a lot of credibility in Volleyball, the MVC has received multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament over the past several years. As the Bluejays enter into the foray of the new Big East, some may wonder if this change will help or hurt the Volleyball program. Ironically, the Bluejays defeated new foe Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The bad news–the Golden Eagles were the only team from the “Catholic 7” and Butler and Xavier that went to the Tournament this past season.
Let’s take a closer look at Creighton’s new conference mates from the Volleyball perspective.
Butler Bulldogs
2012 results: 17-12, 6th in A-10
Postseason: 1st round, A-10 Tournament
Last Season RPI: 140
Series Record with Bluejays: Never met
Butler was pretty competitive in their first season in the A-10, but lost a five-set match against VCU in the first round of the A-10 tournament to finish their only season in the league. Butler volleyball has been around since 1975. Their most recent NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2010 where they were swept by Dayton in the first round.
Head coach Sharon Clark is heading into her 13th season as Butler’s all-time leader in wins, as well as four season with 20 wins or more and over 200 wins with the Bulldogs.
DePaul Blue Demons
2012 results: 10-18, 11th in BIG EAST
Postseason: None
Last Season RPI: 200
Series Record: Depaul leads the series 1-0 (tourney at Northern Illinois)
Depaul volleyball, along with some of their other sports, really suffered this past season. Under third year coach Nadia Edwards, the Blue Demons have been 21-66 since arriving. Since launching in 1982, Depaul has not done anything significant in Volleyball. In fact, before this season, they have not had double-digits in wins since 2004. While it might appear they are in an upswing to become a better program, they still have a long ways to go.
Georgetown Hoyas
2012 results: 7-21, 14th (last) in BIG EAST
Postseason: None
Last Season RPI: 219
Series Record: Have never met
While the Hoya’s might be known for their basketball skills, no one will mistake that for their Volleyball program. With only 7 wins this season and finishing last in the Big East, Georgetown may have a lot of work to do to catch up to the Jays. Arlisa Williams is heading into her 8th season as head coach. She did have the Hoya’s over .500 in the two seasons before this last one, but has a career 77-124 record in her career.
Marquette Golden Eagles
2012 results: 27-7, 2nd in BIG EAST
Postseason: 1st Round, NCAA Tournament
Last Season RPI: 33
Series Record: Bluejays lead series 3-1
This is the cream of the crop for the schools that are changing conferences with the Jays and probably the biggest rival for the foreseeable future. The Golden Eagles made it to the NCAA Tournament and ironically played the Bluejays in the first round this past season. With a second consecutive NCAA appearance, this program looks solid with their coach, Bond Shymansky, heading into a fifth season in charge. Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth and Shymansky are good friends. It will be fun watching the matchups between these two teams.
AVCA All-American Honorable Mention setter Elizabeth Koberstein returns for the Golden Eagles next season.
Providence Friars
Providence does not fully fund their Volleyball team and they will not be joining the Big East for the 2013 season.
2012 results: 1-30, 7th (last) in America East
Postseason: None
Last Season RPI: 327
Series Record: Have never met
Who would have guessed that the Friars were not playing volleyball in the Big East? Volleyball has been around since 1977 for Providence, but it has jumped around as far as league membership. They were part of the Big East until 2003 when they decided to leave the Big East to become independent. In 2010, they became members of the America East conference in Volleyball and have spent the past three seasons playing in that league. They have gone 19-76 in the American East. Amazing that they have kept their head coach, Margot Royer-Johnson, around to see her 14th season with the Friars. At this point, Providence will really pull down the league RPI if they are in fact coming back to the Big East for Volleyball.
Seton Hall Pirates
2012 results: 18-10, 9th in BIG EAST
Postseason: None
Last Season RPI: 121
Series Record: Have never met
The Pirates may be a force in the new Big East. They made the Big East tournament championship game the previous three seasons, but only finished with 18 wins this past season, missing the Big East Tournament totally. New head coach, Allison Yaeger brought consistency to the program after spending the previous five seasons on the bench as an assistant. Although she inherited a good team, they were senior laden and will likely need to do some rebuilding heading into the fall of 2013.
St. John’s Red Storm
2012 results: 20-12, 6th in BIG EAST
Postseason: 1st Round BIG EAST Tournament
Last Season RPI: 112
Series Record: Have never met
St. John’s had a nice season finishing sixth in the Big East, but were knocked off right away in the first round of the Big East tournament. Two of their players, libero Alyssa Warren and incoming transfer Amy Warren, were both invited in the offseason to try out for Team USA volleyball. Stability is the key here with head coach Joanne Persico heading into her 20th season with the Red Storm. They won three straight regular season Big East titles, from 2006 to 2008, two NCAA appearances including a trip to the sweet 16 and won 88 matches over that three-year period. However, since the 2008 season, the Red Storm struggled to 9-21, 18-13 and 10-21 records before finishing 20-12 this past season.
Villanova Wildcats
2012 results: 11-19, 10th in BIG EAST
Postseason: None
Last Season RPI: 215
Series Record: Have never met
Villanova went into last season with a lot of experience with eight returning players and 40 wins over the past two seasons. However, what might have been missed is that they graduated an All-American and three other All-Conference players that were part of a 7 person graduating class. Things did not turn out as expected with only 11 wins last season, losing eight of their last nine matches of the season. They will be a young team going into this fall which could have them toward the lower half of the league in 2013.
Xavier Musketeers
2012 results: 21-11, 2nd in A-10
Postseason: A-10 Championship match
Last Season RPI: 54
Series Record: Have never met
Xavier has been steadily rising on the Volleyball front with four straight seasons of 20 wins or more and three straight visits to the A-10 Tournament Championship game. They had an Honorable Mention All-American libero last season and just missed making the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Mike Johnson is building a strong program heading into his fourth season. Expect Xavier to be in the top half of the new Big East.
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2013 Projected Finish
- Creighton
- Marquette
- Xavier
- St. John’s
- Seton Hall
- Butler
- Villanova
- Depaul
- Georgetown
- Providence
Overall, the new Big East could be strong in the top three of four in the league. The Bluejays headline this group with Marquette close behind. Xavier and St. John’s seem like they could make a challenge based on their history. However, after that the rest of the league has a lot of work to do on the volleyball side of things.
If the Big East were to get bigger in 2014, adding teams like Dayton and St. Louis would really rise the profile of volleyball in the Big East. The good news for Creighton at this time is that they have the opportunity to be dominant in this league. At the same time Bernthal Booth should be able to schedule a tough non-conference season, especially being a part of this new league, that will help them in the long run.
