When most Creighton students are at home eating a Thanksgiving turkey or shopping for Christmas presents, the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams are hard at work on the court or at the net.

Volleyball’s season ended over Thanksgiving at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Omaha. The Jays won their quarterfinal match against Drake but lost to tournament champion Northern Iowa in the semifinals.

The end of the season coincided nicely with the holiday, said freshman defensive specialist Brooke Boggs.

“It was a weekend to celebrate the end of an up-and-down, yet very enjoyable season, as well as Thanksgiving,” she said.

It was a more somber holiday for men’s basketball, which went 0-3 at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. On Thanksgiving, they opened the tournament with an 83-76 overtime loss to No. 15 Michigan.

“We went to a nice restaurant and ate as a team, but after a loss like that it is hard to really celebrate,” junior guard Kaleb Korver said.

Men’s and women’s basketball will also play games over Christmas break. While time off school gives the players an opportunity to focus solely on basketball, it also deprives them of time spent at home.

“It’s definitely fun playing without having to worry about homework,” junior forward Megan Neuvirth said. “But it’s so hard around Christmas because we miss out on a lot of time with family and old friends.”

Still, although family bonding is difficult, the Jays spend their holidays bonding as a team.

“We always have a gift exchange and team dinner around Christmas,” Neuvirth said. “We also adopt a family or two to give something back, too. Then we fill the time with lots of shopping and hanging out with each other.”