With an intrasquad scrimmage and an exhibition against Kansas State in their rear view mirror the 13th-ranked Creighton Bluejays head out to California for the four-team, two-day Trojan Invitational this weekend to kick off their 2018 regular season. Creighton gets started on Friday at 12:30 p.m. with a match against No. 5 Kentucky before facing a familiar foe in former Missouri Valley Conference rival Northern Iowa later that night at 7:00 p.m. Their weekend will conclude with another top 10 showdown when they take on 10th-ranked Southern Cal at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Click to see more CU volleyball photos like this one, of Jaali Winters recording a kill at the net in a 2017 match against USC (Spomer/WBR)
Thanks to the public scrimmage and the match against K-State fans have had a chance to get a sneak peek at Kirsten Bernthal Booth’s current club, so here is a look at who the Jays will be facing this weekend on the other side of the net:
Friday, Aug. 24, 12:30 p.m. vs. #5 Kentucky (0-0):
The Wildcats are coming off a 2017 season where they finished 29-4 and earned a surprising selection as one of the top four national seeds in the NCAA Tournament. They ultimately fell in the Elite Eight to the eventual national champions in Nebraska, but they still return quite a bit of firepower from last year’s team. Junior outside hitter Leah Edmond is back after being selected as a first-team All-American last season. Edmond led the team in kills (539), kills per set (4.53), and aces (40) in 2017. Joining Edmond on the pin is Avery Skinner, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, who finished second behind Edmond in kills (362) and kills per set (3.32) as a freshman last season. The job of distributing to both of those hitters is charged to setter Madison Lilley. The 5-foot-11 sophomore from Overland Park, Kansas averaged 12.14 assists per set last season and finished fourth on the team in digs per set (1.99) and third in blocks (70.0) as she earned a Second Team All-American nod as a true freshman.
Defensively is where the question marks pop for Kentucky. The first major piece in need of replacing is Ashley Dusek. The 3-time honorable mention All-American and 3-time SEC Libero of the Year graduated after leading the team in digs per set with 4.35. The Wildcats also lost a pair of 6-foot-4 middle blockers to graduation in Emily Franklin and Honorable Mention All-American Kaz Brown. The duo were the top blockers on the team by a healthy margin after combining for over two blocks per set in 2017.
Series History: Series tied 2-2.
Creighton head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth on the Wildcats:
“They have two stud outsides and one of the best setters in the country. Their right side returns and we’re not sure where they are going to put her, and they have great recruits so we’ll see where they put kids. Craig Skinner is one of the best coaches around. They’ll be ready to go. It’ll be a battle.”
Friday, Aug. 24, 7:00 p.m. vs. Northern Iowa (0-0):
After meeting for the 50th time last fall the Bluejays and Panthers decided t0 celebrate by meeting twice in 2018. The first of those matchups goes down on Friday night in Los Angeles. Led by honorable mention All-Americans Piper Thomas, Karlie Taylor, and Heather Hook, UNI won 27 matches in 2017 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Hook, a three-year starter at setter, graduated, but Thomas and Taylor both return after combining for over 1,000 kills last season. Along with her 4.00 kills per set and .360 attack percentage, Thomas also led the team with 119.0 blocks in 2017. Taylor wasn’t far behind Thomas’ pace offensively, averaging 3.87 kills per set herself, but she more than makes up for it with her presence as a six-rotation stalwart. Last season she was third on the team in digs per set (3.63) and finished second in aces from the service line with 23.
UNI lost some offensive punch with the graduation of outside hitter Bri Weber, but they have more than enough defensively to make it difficult on the best offensive units in the country with the return of senior libero Kendyl Sorge. The 5-foot-7 defensive specialist set the tone for a defense that set an NCAA record with 2,581 digs as a team in 2017.
Booth on the Panthers:
“Northern Iowa is always really tough to play. They are going to be highly disciplined and they are going to work really hard. Piper Thomas is one of the best middles in the country. She averaged about four kills a game and hit crazy numbers — she’s insane for a middle blocker. They’ll throw it to her all over the court. They have a stud outside and a great libero who has been a starter for three years. They are always highly trained and ready to go.”
Series History: Northern Iowa leads 41-9.
Saturday, Aug. 25, 9:00 p.m. vs. #10 USC (0-0):
The team with the most unknowns at this tournament will at least have the benefit of not having to travel while they figure out the answers. USC shocked the volleyball world when they terminated four-time national champion head coach Mick Haley just before Christmas. Brent Crouch is the new leader of the Women of Troy and he’s got one of the most dangerous weapons in the country at his disposal in junior outside hitter Khalia Lanier. A first-team All-American in 2017, Lanier is one of only two players in program history to reach 1,000 kills in their first two seasons and her 511 kills last season ranked fifth in the Pac-12.
USC ran a 6-2 under Haley last season and both setters, Reni Meyer-Whalley and Cindy Marina, are back this season after combining for 1,565 assists in the Trojans’ up-tempo system. However, one or both of them — should the new coaching staff opt to stick with the 6-2 — will have to build chemistry with a new batch of hitters as USC lost three of their top four attackers from last year, including third-team All-American Brittany Abercrombie, who was second on the team in kills behind Lanier with 426.
Booth on the Trojans:
“Lanier is arguably one of the best outsides in the country. They have a new coach so they could have a new system. We know they have a new setter where there is a good chance they’ll be running a 5-1 with her. They’ve run a really fast tempo in the past couple years, so it will be interesting to see if they are keeping with that or if they adjusted it. That’s the only team we are going to get to see before we play.”
Series History: USC leads 5-0.