Jaali Winters

Classroom

Jaali Winters made the dean’s list all six semesters and will graduate in 3.5 years this December with a GPA over 3.9. In 2017 and 2018, Winters received the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award and the Carl M. Reinert, S.J., Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Also in 2017, Winters was named a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American and a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.

Character

“Winters is one of the finest young women we’ve had come through our program. She’s a vocal leader who also leads by example and takes care of business off-the-court in the classroom as well. It’s no coincidence that our emergence on the national scene has coincided with her arrival into our program four years ago.”  Head Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth

Community

Winters helps with Creighton’s Welcome Week, Night Out with the Jays, Project Harmony and the Completely Kids program. She also participated in Children’s Hospital visits, and read to school children while in Slovenia this summer.

Competition

Winters was a third-team All-American as a freshman and an honorable mention All-American each following year. She is a three-time first-team All-BIG EAST selection, and she has a chance to be the first athlete in school history to be a four-time first-team All-BIG EAST honoree. Winters also is a three-time first-team All-East Region by the AVCA. She led team to their first Sweet 16 appearance in program history as a freshman and then to their first Elite 8 in program history during her sophomore season.

Winters owns the Creighton record for kills in a season and will likely own the career mark this season. She also has the CU records for kills in a BIG EAST Tournament and NCAA Tournament, both match and career. As of nomination time, Winters ranks second nationally among active players in career kills and is 5-0 in five head-to-head matches (with more kills in fewer attempts) than the player ahead of her. She has started in all but one match against BIG EAST foes for the four-time defending regular-season and tournament champions.

In 2015, she was the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and a six-time Freshman of the Week. In 2015 and 2016, Winters was Creighton’s Female Athlete of the Year. In 2016, she was the MVP of the BIG EAST Championship. In 2017, Winters was named to the Kansas Invitational and to eight All-Tournament teams. She played with U.S. Volleyball’s Collegiate National Team in the summer of 2017.