This is the third installment of White & Blue Review’s 2010 Creighton volleyball season preview. Join us every day this week as we take a look at each part of Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s club, leading up to the start of their season and the Blue-White Scrimmage on Saturday, August 21.
Other Volleyball Preview Stories
Last season, the Bluejays acclimated to a new setter for the first time in four seasons. Redshirt freshman Megan Bober inherited the spot with big shoes to fill, and program supporters saw her as the future of Creighton volleyball. The keys to the offense are still in her hands heading into 2010.
In 2009, Bober was able to take advantage of her height as well as her setting skills to lead the way at the setter position. She scored the first kill at Sokol Arena while setting facility records with 534 assists and a .331 attack percentage last season. After spending 2008 as a redshirt studying the game, Bober started every match last season. She earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman team (earning the Freshman of the Week honors four times) while also recording a nation-best .93 blocks per set for the setter position. To expand on her early success even more, Bober became the first setter in school history with 100 or more blocks in a season and the only player with 100 blocks and 100 assists in same year. Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth told WBR earlier this summer that Bober had a nice spring and was really creating that chemistry needed between the setter and the hitters.
By not recruiting a scholarship setter during this offseason, Booth and the Creighton coaching staff expect Bober to carry the load for Creighton. Brittany Moon returns for her sophomore season. Moon’s only extensive experience is playing one set against Southern Illinois while Bober was dealing with an illness.
The other setter on the roster is incoming freshman Brianne Fliss. She comes to Creighton from Hubertus, Wisconsin as a three-year letter winner in high school, where she led the Divine Savior Holy Angels to a 36-9 record and a 5th place finish in the state tournament.
Bober solidifies the setter position, one of the most important spots on the volleyball court. However, if Bober gets hurt or is absent for a long period of time, the Bluejays may struggle and put a lot of pressure on the young and inexperienced players behind her. For Creighton to be successful, she will have to have a banner season. No pressure.