Creighton head coach and 2016 Volleyball Magazine Coach of the Year Kirsten Bernthal Booth made history last season when she took her team to their school’s first Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. That can again happen as she has scheduled some of the toughest teams to test her veteran heavy squad.
Returning for the Bluejays is almost the entire line-up that includes All-Americans setter Lydia Dimke, outside Jaali Winters, and outside Taryn Kloth along with middle Marysa Wilkinson, and libero Brittany Witt. A few of these players got extended experience this summer where Winters and setter Jaclyn Taylor traveled to Croatia for the European Global Challenge, Witt represented Team USA in Thailand, and Kloth played with the Collegiate National team in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Traveling west, Creighton will head to Seattle, Washington to start their season as they take on Saint Mary’s, Pittsburgh, and host Washington. The UW Huskies won the Pac-12 last year and made it to the Elite Eight like Creighton.
The lone home tournament of the season comes up next as they host Kentucky, Northern Iowa, and USC in the Bluejay Invitational. This is the final season of this tournament between these schools as it is part of a four-year rotation. USC has won this tournament the last three years.
Creighton will appear in the Kansas Invitational where they face a Big 10 team in Purdue followed by Belmont. The next night they take on the host Kansas, the team the Bluejays upset in the second round of the postseason.
The last non-conference destination is Wichita, Kansas as Creighton will play Wichita State who is now in the American Athletic Conference and Iowa State out of the Big 12. These teams played in a tournament last season hosted by Iowa State where the Bluejays defeated ISU but lost to WSU.
The regular season champions will look to continue their reign as they have won the Big East title the last three seasons. Not only did they win every match, they made history as the first team in the Big East to go undefeated in conference play. This year’s tournament will be hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Marquette.
BLUE-WHITE SCRIMMAGE (EX.)
FRI AUG 11, 2017 – 5PM
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
KANSAS STATE (EX.)
FRI AUG 18, 2017 – 7PM
MANHATTAN, KAN.
HUSKY INVITATIONAL
Saint Mary’s
FRI AUG 25, 2017 – 6:30PM
SEATTLE, WASH.
Pitt
SAT AUG 26, 2017 – 12PM
SEATTLE, WASH.
Washington
SAT AUG 26, 2017 – 9PM
SEATTLE, WASH. (TV: PAC-12 NETWORK)
BLUEJAY INVITATIONAL
Kentucky
FRI SEP 1, 2017 – 7PM
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
USC
SAT SEP 2, 2017 – 12:30PM
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Northern Iowa
SAT SEP 2, 2017 – 8PM
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
KANSAS INVITATIONAL
Purdue
FRI SEP 8, 2017 – 10AM
LAWRENCE, KAN.
Belmont
FRI SEP 8, 2017 – 5PM
LAWRENCE, KAN.
Kansas
SAT SEP 9, 2017 – 7:30PM
LAWRENCE, KAN.
SHOCKER VOLLEYBALL CLASSIC
Wichita State
FRI SEP 15, 2017 – 7PM
WICHITA, KAN.
Iowa State
SAT SEP 16, 2017 – 4:30PM
WICHITA, KAN.
Georgetown
FRI SEP 22, 2017 – 7PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Villanova
SUN SEP 24, 2017 – 1PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Seton Hall
FRI SEP 29, 2017 6PM
BIG EAST
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.
St. John’s
SAT SEP 30, 2017 4PM
BIG EAST
QUEENS, N.Y.
Marquette
THU OCT 5, 2017 7PM
BIG EAST
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
DePaul
FRI OCT 6, 2017 6PM
BIG EAST
CHICAOG, ILL.
Butler
FRI OCT 13, 2017 7PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Xavier
SUN OCT 15, 2017 1PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
St. John’s
FRI OCT 20, 2017 12PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Seton Hall
SUN OCT 22, 2017 1PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Providence
FRI OCT 27, 2017 6PM
BIG EAST
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Providence
SAT OCT 28, 2017 4PM
BIG EAST
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
Marquette
SAT NOV 4, 2017 1PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
DePaul
SUN NOV 5, 2017 1PM
BIG EAST
D.J. SOKOL ARENA
Xavier
SAT NOV 11, 2017 11:30AM
BIG EAST
CINCINNATI, OHIO
Butler
SUN NOV 12, 2017 12PM
BIG EAST
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
Villanova
FRI NOV 17, 2017 6PM
BIG EAST
VILLANOVA, PA.
Georgetown
SAT NOV 18, 2017 5PM
BIG EAST
WASHINGTON, D.C.
BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
BIG EAST Semifinal
FRI NOV 24, 2017 TBD
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
BIG EAST Final
SAT NOV 25, 2017 TBD
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
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