Whether it’s the Big Ten or NCAA, all eyes are glued to the volleyball scene right now. Just a few days ago, the Big Ten season wrapped up with Nebraska and Penn State sharing the title, and now the NCAA season is keeping that hype alive! On December 5, Creighton Volleyball, ranked 6th and seeded 2nd, made history by matching a school record with their 23rd straight win, dominating South Dakota 3-0 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The scores? A clean sweep: 25-10, 25-17, 25-14. Oh, and Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth snagged her 500th win!

But here’s the real jaw-dropper—Norah Sis made her mark by recording her 1,623rd kill, pushing her to second place all-time in Creighton Volleyball history! Creighton came out strong, never trailing in that first set, cruising to a 25-10 victory, which became their largest margin in NCAA Tournament history. So, here is everything about the star of the game, Norah Sis!

Norah Sis and her epic achievements

Norah Sis, the 6’1 outside hitter, is a total powerhouse at Creighton University. She’s been making waves since her freshman year back in 2021, and trust me, she’s been on a roll ever since. In her first season, she averaged a solid 3.75 kills, 2.96 digs, 0.60 blocks, and 0.16 aces per set while starting in all 35 matches. Not bad for a freshman, right? She even played all five matches for Team USA, racking up 30 kills, 24 digs, 4 blocks, and 3 aces with a .286 hitting percentage, helping the USA Volleyball Under-21 National Team snag a Gold Medal at the Pan American Cup in June 2022. Talk about hitting the ground running!

Her sophomore year was no different—Sis helped Team USA earn another Gold Medal at the U21 Women’s NORCECA Pan American Cup, and her team swept all five matches. She also earned the Most Outstanding Player of the BIG EAST Tournament award and was the first two-time winner in the tournament since 1997. But this girl is just warming up!

Well, now that Norah is in her senior year, she is setting records like there is no tomorrow. She has just made her 1,623rd career kill and with that, she has taken the second spot in Creighton volleyball history. But don’t get it wrong—she is not only dominating the volleyball court but also off the court!

Sis juggles her volleyball career alongside a noble pursuit

While Norah Sis is a hard player during the game, beyond it too she is winning hearts. She is out there dominating the volleyball court as a player, and at the same time, she is here doing her major in nursing. Norah Sis is the kind of athlete who doesn’t just bring the heat on the volleyball court—she takes that same fiery energy straight into her nursing clinicals. After Creighton’s tough September 10 showdown against Nebraska, a match where Sis and her team fought fiercely but couldn’t snap the decades-long streak, there wasn’t much time to sulk.

By dawn, Sis traded her jersey for scrubs, diving into a grueling 10-hour clinical shift at an Omaha hospital. Her professor, Amy Abbott, summed it up best: “sweet as pie to her patients but an absolute bad mamba jamba on the court.” After the post-match pressers wrapped up, the team grabbed either a box of pizza or a salad for the road and hopped on the bus back to Omaha. By 10:30 p.m., they were rolling out of the Devaney Center, and Norah Sis?

She crashed around 12:30 a.m., only to be jolted awake by her 4:45 a.m. alarm. By 6:15 a.m., she was already at her 6:30 a.m. clinical, barely functioning on fumes. “The lack of sleep, I’ve done that before,” Norah admitted. Creighton stands out as the only NCAA Division I volleyball team ranked in the top 10 that proudly boasts nursing majors on its roster, according to a review by Flatwater Free Press. As Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth shared with Nebraska Public Media during the 2023 season, “Very few top-20 programs around the country will allow you to do nursing.”

It’s a big deal, showing that Creighton’s athletes are juggling elite volleyball with their commitment to the demanding field of nursing—proving that you can excel on the court and in the classroom. Even with everything they have going on, Norah Sis really appreciates the unique path she’s carved out for herself. “It’s really cool that that’s an option. We might be able to do both,” she says, reflecting on the rare chance to balance her love for volleyball with her nursing aspirations.

Her heart’s leaning toward pediatrics, drawn to the variety of challenges kids face and the chance to make a difference. “It was all different every day,” she adds, finding excitement in the constantly changing nature of her future field. It’s this mix of passion and dedication that makes her journey feel like something pretty special.