CU Volleyball NCAA Preview

Creighton volleyball will set a school record when they compete in their fifth straight NCAA tournament. The Bluejays will compete in Lawrence, Kansas where they'll be guests of the host Jayhawks.

A perfect BIG EAST regular season and tournament title weren't enough to get them a home regional as their RPI just missed the mark, compiled with the league not being highly thought of. The Jays non-conference also came back to haunt the team as they were .500 before conference play. That said they'll face a familiar foe in Northern Iowa, from the Missouri Valley Conference which fans know well.

Historically it's been a series owned by the Panthers who are 41-7 versus CU and 4-2 on neutral sites. Recently though, the tides have turned as coach Booth's squad has won four of the past five match-ups including a sweep of UNI in LA earlier this season.

If Creighton wins Thursday, they'll face the winner of Kansas/Stanford at 6:30 pm. CU and KU faced one another in September at D.J. Sokol Arena when the Jayhawks won in five sets. Three years ago the Jays were eliminated in the regional finals in four sets against the hosts, they'll look to reverse that against the Big XII champions.

KU advanced to the Final Four last year and enter as the number five overall seed. The Bluejays advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 last season before falling to Southern California in four sets. They'll have lots of work to do in order to advance to next weekend.

Seniors Jess Bird and Lauren Smith will look to continue their careers but will count on help from junior setter Lydia Dimke and super sophomore Jaali Winters in order to make a deep run. Depth has been something this team has enjoyed all season and will be key with who they'll face.

Fans unable to make it to Lawrence can catch the action on ESPN3 or streaming audio for Thursday's game on UNI's website.