Creighton Volleyball head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is in a somewhat unfamiliar spot heading into the 2015 campaign. For the first time in three seasons, a lot of spots are up for grabs, while at the same time, there are enough returning players that will still be able to fill up the stat sheet when the season begins. When it comes to the question of rebuilding or reloading, Creighton has graduated into the position of being able to reload.
The Bluejays lost a core set of players from last season with the graduations of Leah McNary, Kelli Browning, Michelle Sicner, and Katie Neisler. Each of them made their mark with the program the past four seasons that finished with trips to the NCAA Tournament in their final three seasons. But the good news is that even without these ladies, the Bluejays are still predicted to finish at the top of the Big East this season and boasts the preseason Player of the Year in junior Jess Bird. While that is great to see, Booth doesn’t necessarily look forward like that at this time of year.
“It doesn’t matter. It is a fleeting moment that you look at that. On one hand you don’t want to be in because you want to be the underdog, but I think that is good progress of the program to be in the discussion. It is where we are at in November and December that we are keying toward.”
Seniors Elman, Jereb, Stivers, Baumert, & Jansen will anchor the Bluejays in 2015 (Spomer/WBR) Click to see photo
It will be a set of upperclassmen again that will lead the Bluejays this season. Seniors Maggie Baumert, Melanie Jereb, Kate Elman, Ashley Jansen and Lizzy Stivers brings a lot of experience back as well as juniors Bird and Lauren Smith anchoring things. Move in sophomore Marysa Wilkinson who was a great surprise last season and you already have a seasoned team ready to go on the court. The focus in the media may be on Bird, but there are a lot of other pieces that make it work.
“The thing that makes Jess so great is that she is able to do it all,” said Booth. “She is one of our best defensive players, one of our best passers and obviously one of our best hitters. Our culture is what separates our program. I think the think with Jess is that she is not a one man show. We have pieces around her that are looking very good.”
Even with the returning core of players there are several spots that are still in the air heading into Friday night’s Blue/White scrimmage.
“In all honesty we still have some positions up for grabs,” said Booth. Hopefully some of those answers will be made in the next week, but if not sometimes those things…Marysa Wilkinson is a great example last year. She wasn’t in the starting lineup the first match of the first weekend. Jess’ knee ran into problems and sort of subbed in thinking it would be a Band-Aid situation, she tore it up and she ended up starting for us all season long. With so many unknowns, I think you are going to see some different players play and it will be the ones that step up that maybe get some additional time.”
Booth has an incoming freshman class that was ranked #11 in the nation. Several of these players could be in the mix for playing time which makes things a lot more competitive in practice. “I think you will see some freshman playing this fall,” said Booth.
When people talk about volleyball in the state of Nebraska, many use the school down the interstate as the baseline to evaluate things. However, the Bluejays are continuing to rise and have established themselves even more the past few years. Booth sees even more potential in the program each season, and it should be on display in the 6PM annual Blue/White game Friday night at DJ Sokol Arena.
Here are some things picked up at Volleyball Media Day this week to watch for at the scrimmage:
Setter Position Is Set
This year it is essentially senior Maggie Baumert’s team when it comes to running the offense. Baumert rose up last season after transferring from Georgia. Baumert led the Bluejays in assists after assuming the starting role but yet sharing playing time with Sicner. This season, Baumert will look to get the opportunity to run things every game and has embraced being a senior leader with the rest of the seniors.
“Being a fifth year senior, there is two of us, and three other seniors. There are a lot of seniors that have good leadership and we have some great underclassman that are following us.”
Defense Has a Gem
Kate Elman enters her senior season basically a four year starter for the program. Elman is known for going anywhere, throwing her body on the court and diving for balls that most may let go, all in the name of playing great defense. However, after a few brushes with walls earlier in the 2014 campaign, her luck ran out suffering an injury that cut her junior season a little short. However, the sparkplug libero is back and ready to go this season. You can tell by the fire in her voice.
“Again our expectations are really high. We definitely have it on our goal board that we make the sweet 16. (It’s a sweet 16 team because of) the energy and competitiveness in the gym. Coaches said that every spot is up for grabs. I think that is why our gym is so fun to be in right now is because everyone is fighting for a position and it is exciting to see what is going on the floor. In simple drills it starts getting really competitive and exciting. That is what is making our program and our team the way it is right now because everyone is working really hard.”
Jereb flies into her senior season having played a lot of positions in her career. (Spomer/WBR)
Jereb is a wildcard
Melanie Jereb has had a quick and well-rounded career as she heads into her senior season. Jereb has played pretty much every position in her career–starting every match as a freshman, moving to a different position as a sophomore starting 29 of 32 matches, and then becoming a utility player last season providing a spark off the bench and eventually moving into the libero position after Elman went down with her injury. As she heads into this season, her excitement continues to thrive, but realizes that her career has been on the fast track.
“It has flown,” said Jereb.” It has been a lot of fun. It is unbelievable we were actually talking about it the other day how ridiculous it is. Everyone is fighting for spots. We’ll see what happens. We just want to get going and playing some matches. We are looking to get our lineup set and get used to playing with each other. We want to play some volleyball.”
The Ranked Freshman Class
Winters, Lawrence, Bohnet, Kloth, O’Connell, & Ballenger make up the #11 recruiting class in the nation (Spomer/WBR) Click to View photo
As mentioned before, the Bluejays have been able to reload bringing in a five member freshman class that has won at all levels. Megan Ballenger and Jaali Winters both come from different high school teams in Ankeny, Iowa that were very successful but played together on the same club team. There is already chemistry there for respective middle blocker and outside hitter.
Kelsey O’Connell and Samantha Bohnet provide the local talent that Bernthal Booth is able to keep close by. O’Connell keeps the tradition of a player from the dominating Omaha Marian program to play at Creighton. The Bluejays have had a player from Marian in the program since the 2003-04 season. Bohnet comes from Abraham Lincoln across the river in Council Bluffs. She graduated school early and joined Creighton in the spring, giving her some added experience coming into the fall.
Outside Hitter Taryn Kloth was ranked 18th on PrepVolleyball.com’s Senior Aces list, believed to be South Dakota’s highest ranked player ever and the state’s first Top 50 player in a decade. However, you will not see her in Friday night’s scrimmage. She suffered a foot injury that will keep her out for a bit, but has high expectations coming into the season.
You could add a sixth freshman in Brittany Lawrence who redshirted last season. With a strong freshman class around her and a year in the program, these ladies could easily be the present and the future of the Bluejays volleyball team. Remember, Marysa Wilkinson came out of nowhere last season to be a big contributor as a freshman. One or more of these players could emerge.
“Our depth is great this year and it is really fun to integrate the freshman in this preseason and see what we have on the floor,” said junior Lauren Smith. “There is talent all the way around, so it really establishes trust in our teammates and our coaches. I can tell it is really going to be a fun season.”
The Schedule
With the way the schedule is put together for this season, this will be the only time to watch the team before they head out of town for the first two weekends of the season. By then they will have played against several top teams including preseason #8 Illinois, USC, Kentucky and former MVC rivals Northern Iowa. They will be battle tested before opening the home season in the Bluejay Invitational against NCAA qualifiers from last year, Lipscomb and CSU-Bakersfield.
The Bluejays continue a 9-match home stand and turn right around and take on in-state rival Nebraska in a midweek game at the CenturyLink Center. Throw in another weekend of the Creighton Classic that includes more top teams including NCAA tournament qualifier Wisconsin and before you know it, Creighton is into Big East Conference play.
Creighton has the most non-conference matches against the preseason AVCA top 25 in the nation. The schedule keeps getting tougher each year, but Booth doesn’t necessarily see it that way, she just thinks it is the norm for a successful program.
“I don’t’ know if it is our toughest. My scheduling philosophy is to put us in an RPI situation where we can get an at large bid if we don’t win our conference tournament. Obviously we need to win some matches, but we have to play teams to have that opportunity. I am always looking for teams that are top in their conference, especially RPI’s in the 15-40 range. Those are teams I personally think are perfect teams to play. It is very calculated and has been successful, but we still have to win matches to get us in that situation and where we want to be.”
Stivers heads into her fifth season with the Bluejays (Spomer/WBR)
Stivers the “Grandma” of the team
Stivers heads in to her senior season as fifth year senior. Baumert is also a fifth year senior. Stivers considers the two of them the “grandma’s” of the team.
However the big different between Stivers and Baumert is that Stivers has spent her whole five year career at Creighton. She also left the lovely confines of California to spend five years of her life in the harsh cold of Nebraska and has learned to love it.
“I would like to say this is my victory lap in my fifth year as Maggie and I are the grandmas of the team. The experience I have had, I can give to the freshman. It just all cycles back.”
“I have gotten used to the winters. Yes I did know how to manage the snow when I came in as a freshman. I was not out there in flip flops. I mean I have been here for five years, doesn’t that count as a resident? We’ll see what happens when I graduate. Nebraska could be my home.”
Lizzy has spent most of her career being a serve specialist, but her role has continued to evolve during her time at Creighton.
“I saw a little last year just because the people I came in with, Kelli Browning and Katie Neisler, are my best friends, but my best friends are still here. But I see people look up to me instead this year which is different.”
Jess Bird and Lauren Smith All the Way Down Here?
Buried in the excitement for the season and all of the other things surrounding the program, fans are probably spoiled that Bird and Smith can sort of be overlooked since they seem to be the most solid part of the squad heading into the season. Bird has the pressure of being tabbed the preseason Big East Player of the Year, but if you know Jess, she takes the pressure in stride and just goes out and gives it her all.
On the other hand, Smith is in her fourth year in the program after redshirting her freshman season. Since then she has been “Miss Consistency” in the middle. Granted she had Kelli Browning to work with, but her growth over the past two seasons as a starter has made her one of the team leaders and should figure prominently in many matches this season. Just sit back and watch Bird and Smith play. They will help bring this team together for another run this season including their goal of the Sweet 16. Booth sums it up best:
“I have 16 women that are busting their tail every single moment and I would love to play all 16. That is the fun part. The thing that is really special about this team though is that ‘It’s not about me, but about we. The selflessness of supporting who is on the court and when I get my opportunity they will support me.”