The setter in volleyball is sort of like the quarterback on the football team. It is her responsibility to set up the offense and make sure players are in the right position to score points. It is easily a spot to be praised for your efforts while at the same time being scrutinized if things are not going right.
It is no secret that when people talk about Megan Bober, it is hard to run away from the comparisons to Korie Lebeda, who set the standard for the setter position at Creighton. What some people don’t realize is that Bober is setting her own standard with the diverse abilities she brings to the court.
Bober brings her diverse skills to the game (WBR/Adam Streur)
While many setters in the college game are more in the 5’5″ to 5’8″ range, Bober brings her 6′ frame to the game. This added dimension not only allows her to set the ball for teammates, but improves her ability to spike the ball herself and join the front line of blockers. Those skills were on display last weekend in St. Louis, as Bober helped lead the Bluejays to within an eyelash of sweeping the invitational. The Jays beat host St. Louis University and Wake Forest, and their lone loss was a thrilling 5-set match against Iowa — CU trailed 0-2 before forcing a fifth set. Bober was named to the All-Tournament team after finishing the weekend with 116 assists, 25 digs, 16 kills, and 11 blocks while scoring a couple of double-doubles.
Bober, a sophomore, has become a leader as an underclassman. Does she feel the pressure to prove herself or do things differently after one full year at Creighton?
“Obviously, the objective is to go out there and be competitive and be the best we can be all together as a team. And definitely you want to be one step better than last year and improve on what you did. There is always room for improvement.”
On whether she is more comfortable on the court this year compared to last:
“There is a difference in comfort level and more confidence on the floor. Definitely the experience helps; the more you have, the more you can react to different situations. I feel a lot more confident going out there and comfortable with my team.”
Being able to adjust to the teammates on the court is a key to being an effective setter, and Bober has had to deal with a lot of changes early in the season. First Lauren Bloemke goes down with a knee injury before the season started, and then Laurel Sanford injured her ankle in the opening game of the season against San Francisco. Sanford did return this past weekend, but in the meantime Bober adjusted to having Heather Thorson and Savannah Smith on the court with her along with several other newcomers. But no matter who is on the court, Bober feels a connection has to be made to be successful.
“The connection between particular players can vary from day to day and in the games. Emotionally, I think we all connect pretty well on and off the court, but for actual court play, it can just change from day to day with connections all around the court even with new people stepping in and several of the girls I have been playing with for the past few years now. “
The Bluejays hit the road again for the second consecutive weekend. CU will be at the Marquette Invitational in Milwaukee, where the Bluejays will open with Toledo at 12 p.m. Friday afternoon. They play again Friday evening against the host Marquette Golden Eagles at 7:30 p.m. Creighton’s invitational play rounds out Saturday evening, when the Jays and Central Michigan Chippewas square off at 5:30 p.m. Like the Bluejay Invitational, these are four teams who probably feel they can walk way with wins: Toledo sports a 4-2 record, while Marquette and Central Michigan are both 3-3.
If you want to listen in on the action this weekend, you can find all three matches on the radio dial at 1180 AM KOIL or listen online. For the match against Marquette, you can watch free live video. After this weekend, the Bluejays start conference play against Southern Illinois and Evansville, again on the road. Creighton will not return home until September 24 against Northern Iowa.