Brittany Witt holding down the Libero role for Creighton Volleyball (Streur / WBR)
If it’s possible to be encouraged and disappointed at the same time the Creighton Volleyball team did their best feel that way after opening the 2018 season with a 1-2 record at the Trojan Invitational last weekend. The Jays were ultimately disappointed in their overall results, but encouraged by some of the intangibles they displayed in going five sets against 17th-ranked Kentucky and the tournament host in 7th-ranked USC. However, the moral victory parade left town a few years ago when head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth led the program to its first Sweet 16 in 2015, its first Elite 8 in 2016, and its first chance to host NCAA Tournament matches in 2017.
After a few days of practice in Omaha, the Jays are set to head back out on the road when they travel to Dallas, Texas for the SMU DoubleTree Classic. They’ll have a big target on their backs when they arrive, too, as they are the only ranked team in a field that features four 20-win clubs from a season ago. Let’s take a sneak peek at who the 15th-ranked Bluejays will see on Friday and Saturday on the other side of the net:
Friday, Aug. 31 at 10:00 a.m. vs. Arkansas State (2-1 in 2018):
A 21-win team last season, Arkansas State got their 2018 campaign off the ground by winning two-of-three at the Memphis Invitational last weekend. The Red Wolves sandwiched sweeps of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Memphis around a 3-0 loss to Stephen F. Austin. Senior outside hitter Carlisa May leads the team with 4.00 kills per set and 36 total kills so far this season. The two-time reigning Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year was joined on the Memphis Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend by senior setter Ellie Watkins, who averaged 10.75 assists per set accompanied by a .286 attack percentage that helped produce 1.12 kills per set over the weekend. Watkins started her career at Pittsburgh where she played two years, including as a reserve in 2016 for a team that knocked a 30-win Dayton club out of the NCAA Tournament. In her first season with Arkansas State, she finished 26th in the country with 11.07 assists per set.
Watkins, who was selected as the Preseason Setter of the Year in the Sun Belt this fall, quarterbacks on offense that is replacing two of its top three kills leaders from last season, so they will have some unknown commodities to throw at the Jays on Friday. Defensively, sophomore Tatum Ticknor is in her second season at libero after finishing 27th in the nation with 596 digs as a true freshman in 2017. Sophomore Timber Terrell is the weapon of the choice in the middle. She finished second on the team last season with 74 blocks and is currently sporting a .439 attack percentage in 2018.
Booth on the Red Wolves:
“The thing that stands out about them is they are highly-disciplined so they aren’t going to give us a lot of points. They play pretty clean volleyball. They also run a really fast tempo in and out of system.”
Friday, Aug. 31 at 4:30 p.m. vs. NC State (1-1 in 2018):
The Wolfpack opened their season with a five-set win over VCU before falling to Washington State in four sets to snap their 12-match home winning streak. NC State is coming of a 21-12 season in 2018 that saw them win a program record 15 matches in ACC play. They beat Oregon State in five sets in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to 2nd-ranked Texas in the second round. All-American setter Kylie Pickrell is back to the lead the offense for her senior season after orchestrating an offensive attack that led the ACC in kills and assists in 2017. Last year, she recorded the program’s first triple double in the rally-scoring era when she dropped 47 assists, 19 digs, and 13 kills in a five-set loss to Missouri State. She put the versatility on display in 2017, finishing third on the team in digs with 307, third in blocks with 78, and first in aces with 22.
Pickrell, however, will be leading an offense that is replacing each of its top three kills leaders from last season in honorable mention All-American Julia Brown and All-ACC selections in Bree Bailey and Kaitlyn Kearney. 6-foot-1 sophomore right side Melissa Evans will shoulder a lot of that load on the pin this season. The preseason All-ACC selection led the team with 3.72 kills per set last weekend. No one else on the club averaged more than 3.00.
Booth on the Wolfpack:
“NC State is physical and they are really, really good in system, so we’ve got to make sure that we have a good serving game to be competitive.”
Saturday, Sep. 1 at 2:30 p.m. at SMU (0-2 in 2018):
As the hosts for the weekend, the Mustangs will be looking for some home-cooking to help them recover from a winless weekend at the LUV Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee. SMU got swept by Lipscomb in their first match before falling to Iowa in four sets. The Mustangs return four starters and their libero from a team that went 21-11 last season and earned a bid to the inaugural National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NCAA Volleyball’s version of the NIT).
Junior setter Kendall Patterson runs the show for the Mustangs. The 2016 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year averaged 10.05 assists per set last season and also led the team with a .406 attack percentage. Outside hitter Lauren Mills graduated after leading SMU in kills, kills per sets, and aces while finishing second in digs and digs per set in 2017, so that’s a huge loss. However, their next three kills leaders from last season — Brittany Adams, Kelly Brunstein, and Meryn Kennedy — all return. Brunstein and Kennedy were the top two blockers last year for a defense that also brings back junior libero Montana Watts, who led the team in digs with 609 and digs per set at 5.03 last season.