On the larger scale, Creighton's volleyball program has been building for this moment the past seven years.

In the more immediate sense, the Bluejays have pointed their compass at this weekend all season.

Anyway you slice it, coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth's team is excited that it gets to stay home for the premier event on the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball schedule.

“We're ready, and we're pumped,” said Creighton junior Alicia Runge.

For the first time, the Bluejays will host the Valley tournament — meaning CU finally has a shot at winning its way into the NCAA tournament on its own court. CU can show off its new Sokol Arena, one of the few Division I facilities in the country designed primarily for women's basketball and volleyball.

“We've been waiting for this for what feels like a really long time,” Booth said. “Obviously we think Omaha is a great city to host the tournament, and now we have what I consider one of the top venues in the country to play it in. We think this place is pretty special.”

Booth's team (13-16, 10-8 Valley) has counted on as many as six players who hadn't appeared in a Division I match prior to 2009. That inexperience definitely showed as the Bluejays started 2-7.

There's no question that Creighton started playing better volleyball during the second half. The Bluejays won seven of their final 10 conference matches. They'll take a 9-4 home record into an 8 p.m. match tonight against Drake, following the Southern Illinois-Wichita State opener at 6.

CU has relied on two newcomers at the key ball-control positions in setter Megan Bober, a redshirt freshman from Elmwood-Murdock, and junior libero Nayka Benitez, a transfer from Western Nebraska Community College.

As those two have become more comfortable, it's made a world of difference. Bober continues to do a better job setting up her veteran attackers, who include outside hitters Sarah Schulze and Allie Oelke and middle blockers Jessica Houts and Laurel Sanford.

Runge has been on fire down the stretch. The outside hitter, who redshirted last year, is averaging 3.33 kills per set on .436 hitting during the Bluejays' past four matches.

Booth always knew that this group had potential. It just took time for everything to come together.

“We're a better team, because now we just know each other better and have meshed really well,” said Runge, who previously starred at Iowa Western Community College. “Before, we were a whole bunch of people who had never played together. Now we're just so much more familiar with each other on the court.

“We're going to be at home, and we hope our fans are going to be really loud. It can really be an adrenaline rush playing in this building.”

With no shot at an NCAA at-large berth, Creighton will have to win three straight matches this weekend to make the school's first postseason volleyball appearance. It will require the Bluejays playing at a higher level of consistency than at any point this season.

Drake is a 22-win club that has a history of giving Creighton fits. Should the Bluejays beat the Bulldogs, they'd move on to the semifinals against No. 20 Northern Iowa. The Panthers have won 26 straight matches and were 18-0 in the league.

If Creighton can make it to Saturday's championship match, which will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest, the Bluejays likely would be taking on Missouri State or Wichita State, both perennial NCAA tournament qualifiers.

“You never know what's going to happen in that first match, and I know Drake is playing really well,” said Booth, whose Bluejays rank third in the NCAA in blocks. “I just like where our team is at, both emotionally and physically. I feel like we've built up a lot of momentum, and hopefully we can show that this weekend.”

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

« Sports - Bluejays Today

Share