After 22 seasons, more than 500 wins and a program built from the ground up into a national contender, Kirsten Bernthal Booth is stepping down as head coach of Creighton volleyball.
Booth’s impact on the program is immeasurable. When she arrived in 2003, the Bluejays were coming off a 3-23 season, playing in a high school gym in front of friends and family. Over the next two decades, she turned Creighton into a powerhouse—culminating in a 32-3 finish last fall and a program-record No. 6 final national ranking. The Jays’ only losses came in five sets to Final Four teams, and the year ended with a historic Elite Eight appearance.
“Kirsten has been a phenomenal coach, mentor to her volleyball student athletes…[and] an outstanding representative of Creighton University and the Omaha community. She leaves a legacy that is amongst the best in college volleyball,” Creighton Athletic Director Marcus Blossom said.
That legacy includes 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, 12 regular-season conference titles and 11 tournament championships. Her teams earned 17 AVCA Team Academic Awards and featured nine student-athletes who combined for 12 Academic All-America honors. Under her guidance, the program reached four Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eightsand is one of just seven schools to qualify for each of the past 13 NCAA Tournaments.
Booth also helped usher Creighton into the Big East era in 2013, where it then made the conferenceits own. The Bluejays have claimed 11 straight regular-season conference titles and 10 tournament crowns, compiling a staggering 188-16 record in league play and going 21-2 in conference tournament action. Booth’s 10 Big EastChampionship titles are the most by any volleyball coach in league history.
Booth finishes her Creighton career with a 502-192 record, the most volleyball wins in school history and fifthmost across all Bluejay programs. She is a three-time National Coach of the Year, six-time Conference Coach of the Yearand five-time AVCA Region Coach of the Year. Her success helped produce five recent alums playing professional indoor volleyball and Creighton’s first female Olympian, Taryn Kloth, who competed in beach volleyball at the 2024 Paris Games.
Still, when asked what she’s most proud of, Booth didn’t mention her achievements and awards. Instead, she said her proudest moment lies in the relationships.
“For sure, the women… If you haven’t been part of a college team, it truly becomes a family. Just like a family, you spend a lot of time together, you sometimes get on each other’s nerves, you can have candid and honest conversations, you have joy when they have joy, you hurt when they hurt [and] you love each other unconditionally. All of this is true with this team and the teams before it,” Booth said. “I want them to know it’s been my honor to coach them. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I want to thank them for allowing me to learn, grow and stay on board with me during this journey. Each of them will always be family.”
Booth’s departure marks the end of an era, but not the end of her involvement with volleyball or Omaha. She will join League One Volleyball in an administrative role, aiming to grow the professional game for future generations.
“I’ll be staying in Omaha and am honored to have this new opportunity;[I]will do everything in my power to help your daughters and granddaughters have opportunities for professional volleyball, unlike so many who have come before them,” she said.
Reflecting on her career, Booth expressed gratitude to those who helped her along the way—mentors who believed in her, players who bought into the vision and a community that rallied behind the program. Each step, she said, was shaped by the people who trusted her leadership and helped make Creighton volleyball what it is today.
“What I’ve recognized as I’ve thought through things is how many people have played such a role [in] my wonderful experience here at Creighton,” she said.“When I got here, the program was playing in a high school gym in front of mostly family, and the tickets weren’t even sold. We now play in one of the best volleyball venues in the country, and we’ve played in front of sold-out crowds. Thank you to so many who have supported the program with their energy in the stands and many who have supported us with their pocketbooks. As a small private school, we couldn’t do what we do without our incredible donors. Most of all, I want to thank our players, alums and coaching staff.”
With Booth’s departure, the future of Creighton volleyball now rests in the hands of Brian Rosen, who has been promoted from the associate head coach to the fourth head coach since the program’s reinstatement in 1994. While Booth found the decision to step away difficult, she said she knew Rosen was the right person to continue the program’s success.
“I don’t know if there’s ever a right time to step away, but something that’s always weighed on me is…putting the program, and the staff, and the current roster in the best situation to continue to move forward and make the program even better,” Booth said.“Creighton fans can be happy to know this is very much in place. Brian is absolutely the right person to lead Creighton into the future. Brian is a fantastic recruiter [and a] great trainer, motivator, leader and wonderful friend. Most importantly, he’s an outstanding human who will continue to help the young women grow here both on and off the court. I knew he was special early in his tenure here, and I look forward to our fans to see how outstanding he is. Creighton volleyball is in great hands.”
Rosen arrived at Creighton in 2021 after leading Division II Nova Southeastern to a 25-6 record and its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2009. During his time in Omaha, he’s been instrumental in recruiting, training and developing some of the program’s biggest stars.
“Brian has the breadth of experience at various levels that will help him be successful as our next head women’s volleyball coach,” Blossom said. “He’s been a very integral part of our success over the last three years. For the last three years, Creighton has combined a record of 88-and-13. The 88 victories [rank] third in the country, only trailing Pittsburgh and Nebraska. He has experience with USA Volleyball, and he’s an excellent recruiter and in-game tactical coach, as mentioned by Coach Booth. We believe in Brian. He has the experience, determination and drive to continue the trajectory of our program. … He’s a confident coach, and we believe he’s going to take us to the next level.”
With Blossom’s endorsement and the bittersweet departure of Booth, Rosen will usher in a new chapter of Creighton volleyball, one where his leadership and confidence will continue to bring great success to the program.
“There’s nowhere on earth that cares about volleyball as much as Creighton University,” Rosen said.“And as a volleyball coach, where else would you want to be? …It was pretty early on that I knew that this place was going to be special.”
“We want to continue to make sure that every athlete that comes into our program can pursue anything they dream of,” Rosen said. “That has been a big mission of Coach Booth. Whatever you come in here wanting to do—whether it be a nurse, a doctor, a mom, or a teacher—you have everything in place to be able to do those things. That is something that we want to continue. I am so proud to be able to call Creighton home, thankful for this opportunity and I hope to see all of you guys in Sokol this fall.”