Lincoln East alumna, Kirsten Bernthal Booth, has transitioned from Spartan student athlete to the head volleyball coach at Creighton University, where she has been coaching since 2002.  After graduating high school in 1992, Booth, now in the East Athletic Hall of Fame, set school records for assists in a season, and assists in a career at Truman State in Missouri.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communications, and was inducted into Truman State’s Athletic Hall of Fame in October of 2011.  From there, Booth volunteered at Iowa, and served as an interim head coach during the spring.  She later coached at Kirkwood Community College, where she was named the District Coach of the Year twice.  Now at Creighton, Booth has transformed a once abysmal program to a national powerhouse with NCAA tournament experience.

C: What was your experience at East like?

KB: “I loved my experience at East.  I’m one of those people that looks back on high school very fondly.  I think the reason I loved it so much was because I was involved in lots of things.  I was an athlete, but I was also in East high singers, swing choir, student council, and was a class officer.  It doesn’t matter what the organizations are, I think just being involved makes for a great experience.”

CC: What advice would you give to athletes in high school?

KB: “I think sometimes we get caught up in wins and losses.  I think athletics teaches you what life is.  It’s about doing things like putting your team before yourself, about working hard when you’re tired and don’t want to, and it’s about making good decisions when no one’s watching.”

CC: What was it like to get the head coaching job at Creighton?

KB: “It was pretty surreal, I was coaching at the junior college level and thought my next step would be a division II job.  I really didn’t know much about Creighton at the time.  When I came into the job, they were 3-23, they were playing at a high school (Omaha South).  But what I learned when I got here, was we have wonderful leadership with success.  They were prepared to support the program, and it has been an incredible 14 years.  I can’t say enough about how I have enjoyed my experience here.”

CC: What values do you instill in your players at Creighton?

KB: “We work really hard to talk about the process when we’re coaching.  We don’t talk a lot about winning, we talk about doing the right things to get to our best, which hopefully will lead to winning.  Things like team before self, not cutting corners, treating people with respect, working hard.”

CC: What exciting moments have you had in your coaching career?

KB: “Lots of exciting moments.  The first time we made the NCAA tournament was in 2010, and that was my ultimate goal for the program at the time, so that was really a surreal moment.  Then we went on to upset Iowa State, who was top 20 in the country in the first round of the tournament.  We won our first conference title in 2012 in a five set match against Wichita State.  The highlight was probably this year.  Not only making the Elite Eight, but the way we played Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen.  The atmosphere was incredible, and as heartbreaking as it would have been to have lost, I was aware of how fun this was to be a part of.”
CC: How has the program changed over the years?

KB: “From a facility standpoint, when I got here we moved from Omaha South to the Omaha Civic Auditorium.  In 2008, we built a facility for women’s basketball and volleyball.  From an on court standpoint, we continue to improve.  But the thing that hasn’t changed is that Creighton does things differently than a big school.  It’s definitely a family atmosphere.  We always say we want to beat a lot of those great teams, but we don’t necessarily want to be them.  We want to keep our culture of a family atmosphere, where professors come to our games, and talk about them with our athletes in class.”

CC: What goals do you have for your team this upcoming season?

KB: “We want to do the process right. We want to develop good culture.  We want to have on court success by doing those things right.  We haven’t set all of our goals yet, but I think they’ll say they want to go further.  That they want to go to a final four and win a national championship here.  And we want to do well in the classroom.  We always set a goal of a 3.3 (GPA) or above as a team.”