The Creighton volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and third time in the last four years.

“We’re excited,” head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. “First and foremost, you want to see your name up on the screen, so it’s exciting to get our third time in the NCAA Tournament.”

The team gathered at the Old Mattress Factory Bar and Grill for the NCAA Tournament Selection show, and anticipation built in the room as the Jays had to wait, and wait, to see their name appear on screen.

Finally, as the last regional bracket was revealed, Creighton popped up on the screen and the room exploded with excitement, then exploded again a moment later when they found out that they would be playing in Lawrence, Kan.

“We were all holding hands under the table,” junior middle blocker Kelli Browning said. “We were pretty nervous about it but we knew that we were going to be up there and I think we’re really excited with where we ended up.”

Creighton (22-8, Big East runner-up) will face the Arkansas Razorbacks in Lawrence on Friday at 4 p.m.

The Razorbacks finished 16-13 on the season and 9-9 in SEC play, but struggled down the stretch going 3-6 in their last nine games. Creighton and Arkansas have only faced each other once, back in 2003, so the Razorbacks are a bit of a mystery for Creighton right now.

“I don’t know much about Arkansas,” Booth said. “I know they’re a very good team. I watched some last year. I have not seen them play at all this year, so that’s what we’ll dive into tomorrow.”

If the Jays can take care of business against the Razorbacks, they will move on to face the winner of Kansas and Wichita State. Regardless of who emerges victorious from that game, it will be a familiar foe for Creighton as the Jays beat both of those teams during the regular season this year.

“The other side of the bracket, obviously we played KU and Wichita, both fantastic teams,” Both said. “I think it will be a great four-team tournament.

“We beat Wichita in five at their place and we beat Kansas in four at our place. They both were battles and both teams are playing very, very well. I think any of those four teams there, I know enough to say any of the four teams can walk out into the Sweet 16.”

The location of Creighton’s regional is fortunate for the Jays, and Booth hopes to see plenty of Creighton Blue down in Kansas.

“Lawrence is a great town. We hope that a lot of Omaha people will make the three-hour trek down to Lawrence, Kan. to cheer us on.”

Marquette is the only other Big East team in the field of 64, and Booth said she thought the Golden Eagles deserved a better seed than they were given.

“I think that Marquette is going to surprise people in the tournament,” Booth said. “I’m really disappointed that Marquette didn’t get to host. They should have. I think that’s a big mistake on the committee’s part. I’m disappointed Butler didn’t get in. I think things could have gone better from a Big East standpoint, but we’re pleased with our situation here at Creighton.”

Before learning about their at-large bid, the Bluejays tried to earn the conference’s automatic spot as they hosted the Big East Tournament at D.J. Sokol Arena.

On Friday, Creighton faced off in the first round against a desperate Xavier team in need of a win to bolster its postseason hopes and the Jays emerged victorious in four sets.

“We feel pretty excited that we came out with a win tonight,” Booth said. “Xavier’s a great team. They had a lot on the line. They were fighting for their season.”

Scores in Creighton’s favor were 25-20, 25-19, 22-25 and 25-17.

Junior setter Michelle Sicner led the way with a big triple-double, finishing with 44 assists, 21 digs and 11 kills. Freshman outside hitter Jess Bird recorded  adouble-double with 10 kills and 22 digs, while Browning, freshman middle blocker Lauren Smith and junior outside hitter Leah McNary also finished with double-digit kills with 13, 12 and 11 respectively.

Sophomore libero Kate Elman led five Jays in double-figure digs with a game-high 24, and as a team Creighton finished with 96 digs.

With the win, Creighton advanced to Saturday’s championship game to take on the conference’s regular season champion Marquette. The Golden Eagles knocked off the Butler Bulldogs in four sets on Friday to advance to the title game.

The Jays swept Marquette when the two teams met up at Sokol Arena during the regular season, but the home court advantage wasn’t enough this time around as Marquette won in four.

Scores in favor of the Golden Eagles were 25-18, 25-27, 25-21 and 25-16. Creighton held the edge in blocks, 11-8, but Marquette controlled almost every other statistical category.

McNary led Creighton with 12 kills, while Smith and Bird each finished with 11. Sicner posted a double-double with 39 assists and 11 digs, while Elman led the way for the Jays with 21 digs.

Senior Marquette setter and Big East Player of the Year Elizabeth Koberstein finished with 56 assists and 12 digs, while Freshman of the Year Autumn Bailey posted a game-high 17 kills to go with her 19 digs.

Browning and Smith were honored after the match, joining Marquette’s Koberstein, Nele Barber and Meghan Nieman, Butler’s Belle Obert and Xavier’s Lauren Metzger on the All-Tournament team.

“Marquette’s a great team. When you’re playing a team like Marquette, or any team we’re going to play next week [in the NCAA Tournament], we’ve got to play great ball the entire time. I thought we did a lot of very good things tonight … This is good for us. Playing a team like this will help us going into the tournament next week.”

The Jays are using the loss as motivation as they head into the postseason.

“I think we’re more jacked up now for the NCAA [Tournament] coming off a loss almost,” Sicner said. “We’re more jacked up because we know we can play better and we’re going to play better.”

Booth said she likes how her team is playing as it prepares for the tournament, and hopes the team’s experience in the postseason last year will give the Jays confidence.

“We’ve got a lot of kids that have been on this stage,” Booth said. “I hope it carries over into confidence. This is the time of year that I really want our players to go have fun, play with energy, and good things will happen. They’ve worked their tails off. It’s not about nerves. It’s not about expectations. It’s going out and just playing a game they love and I think good things come when you have that philosophy.”

Browning agrees that the team’s experience will help and is looking forward to the tournament.

“For a lot of us, it’s our second go-around in the tournament so we kind of have a feel as to how it’s going to feel when we’re out there,” Browning said. “I think we’re excited to get back on the court and play in this tournament.”

According to Browning, we haven’t seen the best of the Bluejays yet.

“I think we’re playing at a very high clip, but I think that we can be that much better,” Browning said. “I don’t think we’ve peaked yet.”