Junior setter Maggie Baumert is one of the newer additions to the volleyball team. However, she had a slightly different journey to Creighton than those of her teammates.
Baumert began her college volleyball career at the University of Georgia. During her sophomore year at Georgia, she appeared in all 119 sets, and the team finished 22-10, advancing to the NCAA tournament. However, after 2 1/2 years at Georgia, Baumert decided to transfer and head back to her hometown, Omaha.
“[The University of Georgia] wasn’t the right fit for me,” Baumert said. “I wanted to transfer because I still had two seasons left and just [wanted] to be happier.”
Baumert found her fit at Creighton and enrolled in the spring of 2014.
“I didn’t feel like I could be myself at Georgia, so it’s been great here,” Baumert said.
At one of Baumert’s first games with Creighton in the 2014 spring exhibition, she had 26 assists, five digs and three blocks against Nebraska. Through the nonconference season, Baumert leads the Big East in assists with 493 and is third in assists per set with 9.86. She is also second on the team in aces with eight and fourth in blocks with 29.
According to coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Baumert is the first transfer the team has had, besides a few junior college transfers.
“We had a scholarship open up because Savannah Smith was graduating early,” Booth said. “We heard through the grapevine that Maggie was transferring from Georgia.
“Physically, Maggie is great; she is tall, has good feet, we thought she had good hands and she is a solid defensive player, so those things from a physical standpoint were attractive. So when she was available to transfer, we thought this might be a good fit.”
Baumert started playing volleyball at a young age with her older sisters in their backyard, and then graduated to competitive volleyball in the seventh grade. She continued to play, but did not transition into the setter position until her sophomore year of high school.
The setter’s job in volleyball is most often compared to that of the quarterback’s job in football.
“The setter position is huge,” freshman setter Kenzie Crawford said. “You have to be in charge of everything; you have to be able to set the mood for the people; and you have to be the one everyone looks to after every point.”
Setters are also said to be one of the most resilient players on the court. They need to remain calm whether the score is in their favor or not, because they are making a lot of the on court decisions. This is one of the characteristics the coaches found in Maggie.
“Maggie is very even keeled, she’s not a ra- ra leader; if you came and watched Maggie you probably wouldn’t know if the team was up 20-10 or down 20-10,” Booth said. “She’s just got a nice confident demeanor.”