Creighton Volleyball’s Kirsten Bernthal Booth abruptly stepped down Sunday after 22 decorated seasons leading the program. She will join League One Volleyball in an administrative position. Booth departs Creighton with a 502-92 (.723) record and 11 straight Big East regular-season titles after taking over a program that was 3-23 in 2003. She is a three-time National Coach of the Year and six-time Big East Coach of the Year, leaving big shoes to fill for her successor.
2024 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Brian Rosen, will attempt to fill those shoes. Rosen, who joined the program in 2022 after a successful three-year head coaching campaign at Division II Nova Southeastern, is accustomed to and has been instrumental in the success of the Bluejays over the past three seasons. This was surely in the works for some time, as he has turned down numerous head coaching jobs the past two off seasons and was immediately named as Booth’s replacement Sunday.
Speaking of heirs, Creighton Basketball seems to have found its next bench leader despite head coach Greg McDermott still at the helm. There has been chatter the past few off seasons that is now confirmed. McDermott is expected to retire within the next two seasons as reported by The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman. Former assistant Alan Huss is reportedly stepping down as head coach at High Point University to rejoin the Bluejays as head coach in waiting.
Huss, a Creighton alumnus, left the program after six years as an assistant to be High Point’s head coach in 2023. He immediately found success, leading the Panthers to a Big South regular season championship behind a 27-9 record, the most single season wins for the school since 1978-79. High Point also reached their first-ever NCAA Tournament this year after going 29-6 and winning the Big South Tournament. In Huss’ two years as a head coach, he won two conference regular-season titles, one conference tournament (in a one-bid league), and two conference coach of the year awards.
Take a bow, Ryan Kalkbrenner. The four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year will need to make more room in the trophy case, if any remains. Saturday, he was awarded the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year trophy after a dominant senior season in which he started all 35 games and set career highs in points and rebounds per game. To follow that up, he won his second National Defensive Player of the Year award in a week Sunday, this time taking home the Naismith after being named the NABC Defensive Player of the Year last Tuesday. If that’s not enough, he was named to the Wooden Award’s All-America team, recognizing him as one of the best 10 players in the country this season. Well-deserved for the latest Creighton great.
Former Bluejay Trey Alexander earned some hardware for himself last weekend as well, being announced as the NBA G League Rookie of the Year. After going undrafted in the 2024 NBA Draft, he played this season on a two-way contract. Alexander split his time between the Denver Nuggets and their G League affiliate Grand Rapids Gold allowing for more opportunity to develop. Develop he did, averaging 25.8 points (second in the G League), 5.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting over 46% from the field and 42% from 3-point range. Appearing in 22 games for the Western Conference’s fourth-place Nuggets this season, he will have more opportunities to make his name, likely in the playoffs starting April 19.
Twins Maddia and Rylinn Groff made history Monday as the only siblings to win the Summit League’s Softball Pitcher and Performer of the Week honors. Pitcher Maddia has been nothing short of commanding this season and is the Summit League’s leader in wins, strikeouts and ERA. Last week she went 3-0 allowing one run in 16.1 innings and dealt 26 strikeouts, resulting in her fourth Summit League Softball Pitcher of the Week honor this season. Sister Rylinn, who has started every game at catcher this season for the Mavericks, posted a .461 batting average and scored five runs in the 4-0 week for Omaha. She earned her first Summit League Softball Performer of the Week honor in exchange.
League One Volleyball announced the 2025 LOVB Icons Monday, the all-star roster for the new league. Omaha libero Lexi Rodriguez earned first-team honors and teammate Jordan Larson was named a second-team Icon. Fourteen total players were named to the first and second teams that were determined by a weighted scale of players (25%), coaches (25%) and fan votes (50%) with more than 74,000 fan votes received.
Creighton Baseball dropped a home game Tuesday to North Dakota State. The Bison were on layover from a weekend series against Omaha and improved to leave town 2-2 on the week. The game was knotted 2-2 until NDSU scored on an RBI single in the top of the ninth. Creighton failed to answer, losing the game 3-2. Next is a weekend series at Seton Hall with first pitch at 3 p.m. Friday.
Union Omaha fell last night to the Richmond Kickers, 1-0 surrendering the lone goal in the 82nd minute. That loss brings the club to 1-2 on the year with one regular season match remaining prior to the home opener one month from today on May 10. The club will be hosting a Championship Celebration in honor of last year’s squad that was USL League One Champions during the home opener against Portland. The Owls’ next match is Tuesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. against San Antonio FC in the U.S. Open Cup third round. That game can be streamed on Paramount+.
Creighton Softball dropped another game to in-state rivals against Nebraska last night, 8-2. The sellout crowd in Lincoln provided a tough atmosphere where the Jays could never get it going. Nebraska grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first and never looked back, extending the lead to 6-0 in the second, effectively subduing Creighton for the rest of the game. The 15-20 Jays have an opportunity to get right with a home series vs. Butler this weekend. First pitch is 4 p.m. Friday at the Creighton Sports Complex.
Baylor Scheierman made his first NBA start last night for the Boston Celtics, as the Eastern Conference’s second-place team rested their starters in preparation for the playoffs, starting April 19. The rookie from Aurora, Neb. tied for a team high in points with 15 on an uncharacteristic 6-for-14 shooting performance. The Celtics have two more regular season games, both against the second-to-last-place Charlotte Hornets this weekend, so Scheierman may get some more starting experience heading into the playoffs.
The LOVB Finals begin tonight in Louisville, Ky., and Omaha will face Madison at 6 p.m. That game can be streamed on ESPN+. The winner of tonight’s match will face Houston in the semifinals tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. The LOVB Championship game will be held Sunday, April 13 at 3 p.m. Semifinal and championship games will air on ESPN2.
The Omaha Storm Chasers are playing a series at the Saint Paul Saints this week. Noah Cameron tossed six scoreless innings in a 3-0 win for the Chasers Tuesday before Saint Paul evened the series last night with a narrow 3-2 victory. The series will be played through Sunday, and first pitch tonight is 6:37 p.m.
The Omaha Supernovas won their lone game last week, defeating the Orlando Valkyries in four sets. This was former Bluejay Nora Sis’ second return to Omaha this season after being drafted third overall by Orlando in the 2024 PVF Draft. She faced former Creighton teammates Kendra Wait and Allison Whitten for the Supernovas. Omaha is now 15-5 and in first place in PVF standings, with its next match tonight at 9 p.m. against the Vegas Thrill. The match can be streamed free on the Roku Channel and is broadcast locally on KCRO 660 AM.
Upcoming Games
LOVB Omaha vs. LOVB Madison | Tonight, April 10 | 6 p.m.
Omaha Storm Chasers at St. Paul Saints (April 8-13) | Tonight, April 10 | 6:37 p.m.
Omaha Supernovas at Vegas Thrill | Tonight, April 10 | 9 p.m.
Creighton Baseball at Seton Hall (April 11-13) | Friday, April 11 | 3 p.m.
Omaha Baseball at South Dakota State (April 11-13) | Friday, April 11 | 3 p.m.
Creighton Softball vs. Butler (April 11-13) | Friday, April 11 | 4 p.m.
Omaha Softball at Kansas City (April 12-13) | Saturday, April 12 | 12 p.m.
Omaha Beef at Beaumont Renegades | Sunday, April 13 | 5 p.m.
Union Omaha vs. San Antonio FC (U.S. Open Cup Third Round) | Tuesday, April 15 | 7 p.m.
