OMAHA, Neb. – Non-conference home matches against USC, Kentucky, Northern Iowa and Nebraska – in addition to hosting the BIG EAST Championship -- highlight the 2022 Creighton Volleyball schedule released today by head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth.

Coming off a school-record 31-win season last fall, the Bluejays once again face a loaded scheduled that features road tournaments hosted by Wyoming, Omaha and Rice. The eight-time defending BIG EAST Conference champion Bluejays will also play 10-of-18 league contests inside the friendly confines of D.J. Sokol Arena, where CU is 73-3 in regular-season BIG EAST home matches all-time.

Fans can get their first look at the 2022 Bluejays in a pair of mid-August exhibitions. Creighton hosts its annual Blue/White Scrimmage on Aug. 13^th, then welcomes defending Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota on Aug. 21.

The regular-season begins on Aug. 26 with the Rumble in the Rockies, a four-team tournament hosted by the University of Wyoming. Creighton opens with Iowa State before taking on Wichita State seven hours later. The event concludes the following day when CU meets tournament host Wyoming. Creighton swept matches against the Shockers and Cowgirls last season at the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Wichita, Kan.

"I've heard Wyoming's a really difficult to place, so we're excited to go to that area of the country and open with a really tough Iowa State team," said Booth. "That's going to be a dogfight to open the season, and we've had some great battles with Wichita State through the years too."

Creighton's 14^th season inside D.J. Sokol Arena starts with the 17^th rendition of the Bluejay Invitational. The event features powerhouses USC, Kentucky and Northern Iowa coming to Omaha. CU faces USC on Sept. 2 before meeting both Kentucky and Northern Iowa the following day. It will be Kentucky's first matches in Omaha since winning the program's lone national title in the spring of 2021.

CU hosts Nebraska on Wednesday, Sept. 7 inside CHI Health Center Omaha. The match between the in-state rivals drew more than 11,000 fans last season and will be held at the site of the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Championships in December.

"We're really excited to host the Bluejay Invitational, with USC, Kentucky and UNI coming here," said Booth. "It's our second time and that's three phenomenal teams to get to play in Omaha. We'll back it up that Wednesday by hosting Nebraska at CHI Health Center Omaha, and often that match is the highest-attended regular-season match in the country. We're really excited for that opportunity."

The Bluejays head across the city for a tournament hosted by Omaha at Baxter Arena a few days later. The Bluejays square off against Florida State on Sept. 9 before meeting the host Mavericks the following evening.

CU concludes non-conference play Sept. 17-18 with the Rice Adidas Invitational II in Houston, meeting Kansas State and Rice.

"A couple other things really stand out," said Booth. "Going to Rice for the first time, they are consistently a top-25 program and I have great respect for coach Volpe and we're also playing a good K-State team down there. We're excited to play at UNO for the first time. Coach Buttermore and staff have really catapulted that program and we've never played Florida State, so I'm excited about that."

CU is home for each of its first four BIG EAST matches, welcoming Georgetown (Sept. 23), Villanova (Sept. 25), Xavier (Sept. 28) and Butler (Sept. 30) in an eight-day span to close the month.

The Bluejays will be on the road for six of their eight matches in October as the team makes three different trips to the East Coast. The Bluejays play at Connecticut (Oct. 7), Providence (Oct. 8), Villanova (Oct. 21), Georgetown (Oct. 22), Seton Hall (Oct. 28) and St. John's (Oct. 30) during the month, with a key home weekend against Marquette (Oct. 14) and DePaul (Oct. 16) sandwiched in between.

The Bluejays start November with home matches against Providence (Nov. 4), Connecticut (Nov. 6), St. John's (Nov. 11) and Seton Hall (Nov. 13) before closing out the regular-season with matches at DePaul (Nov. 18) and Marquette (Nov. 19).

Creighton will host the BIG EAST Championships for the fifth time since 2013 to close out November. The Bluejays have won seven of the past eight BIG EAST Championships, earning titles on its home floor in the fall of 2015 and 2018 as well as the spring of 2021.

"I'm really excited that we get to host the BIG EAST Tournament," added Booth. "It's tough to qualify for it but that will be a goal, and if we're able to accomplish that, we'd be excited to play in front of our great fans."

The 64-team NCAA Tournament is slated to start on Dec. 1 and concludes at the Final Four on Dec. 15 & 17 in Omaha.

Creighton season ticket holders will receive an e-mail regarding their 2022 Volleyball season tickets. Season tickets will include the Creighton/Nebraska match held at CHI Health Center Omaha, as well as the BIG EAST Tournament. Single-match tickets will go on sale at a later date.