OMAHA, Neb. — Norah Sis was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year and nine-time defending league champion Creighton has been picked to finish second in a preseason poll of BIG EAST volleyball coaches. It’s the third time in the last six seasons that Creighton’s been picked second, but in both 2018 and 2019 the Bluejays went on to win the league title outright while going a combined 35-1 in BIG EAST action.
The Bluejays own nine BIG EAST regular-season titles, eight conference tournament titles and a 158-11 overall record against league foes since the start of the 2014 campaign. Marquette, this year’s favorite, is 126-36 in that same span, while no other league team has 100 or more wins against BIG EAST competition in the past nine seasons.
For the second straight season Norah Sis was named Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, an award she won at year’s end last season. Sis is joined on the 12-woman Preseason All-BIG EAST Team by Bluejay teammates Kendra Wait and Ava Martin. All three women finished last season by being named All-BIG EAST and represented Creighton on the All-Tournament Team at the BIG EAST Championship. This year marks the 11th straight campaign that multiple Creighton players were recognized on the Preseason All-Conference team, and eighth time in the last nine years with three or more selections. This is the second straight season that Sis and Wait have been a preseason All-BIG EAST choice and the first time for Martin, the reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.
Sis and Wait were two of four unanimous picks to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, along with the Marquette tandem of Carsen Murray and Yadhira Anchante, Also voted to the preseason squad were Butler’s Jaymeson Kinley, DePaul’s Jill Pressly, Marquette’s Hattie Bray and Aubrey Hamilton, St. John’s Giorgia Walther and Xavier teammates Brooklyn Cink and Carrigan O’Reilly.
Sis was named BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2022 after leading the league with 4.33 kills per set. She also became the first player in 25 years to win back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament MVP accolades. Martin was named 2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year as she averaged 2.49 kills per set. Wait led the league with 11.16 assists per set while also averaging 3.23 digs per set and hitting .361.
Marquette topped the poll with 7-of-11 first place votes, though coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, with Creighton picking up the other four first place votes. Marquette’s 97 points were three more than Creighton’s 94, as both programs were picked second or better by each possible coach. Xavier was third with 78 points, just ahead of St. John’s (64) and UConn (63). Rounding out the bottom-half of the league prognostications were sixth place DePaul (59), Villanova (46), Butler (40), Seton Hall (30), Providence (18) and Georgetown (16).
The Bluejays return five starters and 11 letterwinners from a team that finished last year 27-5, won an unprecedented ninth straight regular-season BIG EAST title, and finished the season ranked 21st in the country. This year’s club was ranked 18th nationally in the Preseason AVCA Coaches Poll that was announced on Tuesday, which also saw Marquette land in 12th place.
Creighton’s preseason prognosis of second place marks the 20th straight season of a top-five prediction in its league, after nine such accolades from the Missouri Valley Conference from 2004-12 before joining the BIG EAST in 2013. In the previous 29 seasons (19 in the MVC, 10 in the BIG EAST), Creighton has improved its preseason ranking 12 times, been ranked correctly 12 times, and dropped from preseason expectations just five times. Notably, 18 of Creighton’s 20 previous teams under head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth have met or exceeded preseason poll predictions, and the two that didn’t dropped just a single slot.
After closing the exhibition season on Saturday with a 1 p.m. home match vs. Northern Colorado, Creighton opens its regular-season on Friday, Aug. 25 against Loyola (Chicago) in a match that will be played in West Lafayette, Ind.
BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year:Norah Sis, Creighton, Jr., OH
Preseason All-BIG EAST:
Jaymeson Kinley, R.S. Sr, Butler, DS
Ava Martin, So., Creighton, OH
Norah Sis, Jr., Creighton*, OH
Kendra Wait, Jr., Creighton*, S
Jill Pressly, Sr., OH, DePaul
Yadhira Anchante, Jr., Marquette*, S
Hattie Bray, Jr., Marquette, MB
Aubrey Hamilton, Sr., Marquette, OH
Carsen Murray, Sr., Marquette*, MB
Giorgia Walther, Jr., St. John’s, OH
Brooklyn Cink, Gr., Xavier, OH
Carrigan O’Reilly, Gr., Xavier, S/RS
*Unanimous selection
Preseason Coaches Poll
Points (First place votes)
- Marquette 97 (7)
- Creighton 94 (4)
- Xavier 78
- St. John’s 64
- UConn 63
- DePaul 59
- Villanova 46
- Butler 40
- Seton Hall 30
- Providence 18
- Georgetown 16
Creighton in the Preseason Conference Poll
Year Preseason Pick Finish Move
1994 11th 9th up 2
1995 9th 7th up 2
1996 9th 6th up 3
1997 8th 3rd up 5
1998 6th 8th down 2
1999 T-7th 5th up 2
2000 4th T-4th – –
2001 2nd 4th down 2
2002 7th 9th down 2
2003 9th T-5th up 4
2004 5th 5th – –
2005 5th 5th – –
2006 4th 4th – –
2007 3rd T-2nd up 1
2008 3rd 2nd up 1
2009 4th T-4th —
2010 4th 3rd up 1
2011 3rd 4th down 1
2012 4th 1st up 3
2013 1st 2nd down 1
2014 1st 1st —
2015 1st 1st —
2016 1st 1st —
2017 1st 1st —
2018 2nd 1st up 1
2019 2nd 1st up 1
2020 1st (Midwest) 1st (Midwest) —
2021 1st T-1st —
2022 1st T-1st —
2023 2nd TBD
