For Papio Sophomore Norah Sis, Excitement to be a Bluejay is a Constant

Norah Sis wasted little time introducing herself to the Nebraska high school scene as a freshman last year for Papillion-LaVista.

In the vaunted Bellevue Invitational to start the 2017 season, Sis had 40 kills and 29 digs in six matches and she hasn’t stopped being one of the best full-rotation outside hitters in the state ever since.

Now, when it comes to introducing herself to college coaches, that took a little while for her to get comfortable with. But, Sis no longer has to worry about after committing to Creighton earlier this month.

“Feels really good to be done with (the recruiting process). I’ve Grown a lot through the process,” Sis said. “At the beginning I dreaded my first couple calls to coaches because I was so nervous. It takes a lot of work, to be done with it so relieving.”

Sis, a 6’1 sophomore that currently leads Class A by a wide margin in kills this year with 244, said she started reaching out to college programs about this time last year. After initiating contact with college coaches and playing her 15s club season, interest in Sis really started to pick up. This past summer, she started visiting schools and going to their camps.

One of those camps was Creighton back in July where several of the Bluejays’ incoming recruits and top prospects competed.

“All the commits were super nice, I felt like I fit in really well with them,” Sis said of the camp. “I’ve never, truly, been at a camp where I had so much fun and felt so comfortable.”

Sis had a pair of scholarship offers already in hand and was actively talking with a handful of other colleges when Creighton offered her a chance to be a Bluejay. Sis said she could hardly contain her excitement when the offer came, but she still waiting a couple weeks before giving her answer – just to make sure she wasn’t deciding solely based on emotion.

“To be honest, the excitement hasn’t really gone away,” Sis said. “I loved Creighton so much. The players and coaches are super awesome. It’s an amazing school …. and it’s here in Omaha. I’m a family girl, so being close to home was important.

“That was at the top of my list of things looking for in a school. A lot of schools in Big 10 and Big 12 – couple of them looking that I was looking at – play close to home so that would have been good. But, it’s going to be great to have family come down and play.”

Sis is far more than just a kill machine on the outside. Her serve receive and passing separates her from the pack and makes her one of the most complete packages in the state. She also fits extremely well into Creighton’s recruiting timeline – meaning she will get to campus as a freshman just as the Bluejays’ top young pin hitters – Jaela Zimmerman, Keely Davis and Kari Zumach are seniors.

Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal-Booth, who has a national reputation of creating one of – if not the most – player-friendly cultures in the country at Creighton, played a massive role in Sis’ desire to be a Bluejay.

 “Oh my God, I like everything about (Booth). She is so awesome. She is a really good coach and really good person,” Sis said. “Before I ever even met her I had heard so many good things about her. She wants to really get to know you off the court, I don’t think many coaches really do that. She really wants to get to know you and be interactive with you.”

And for the next two-and-a-half years, Sis said she’s going to work hard to make sure Booth gets to know what she can do on the court as well.

“I’m definitely going to focus in high school and club to improve and prepare me to play at Creighton,” she said. “Especially at a really good program Creighton, nothing is guaranteed. I want to keep on improving until I get to Creighton so that hopefully I can be a big contributor to the team.”