Creighton volleyball’s Kiara Reinhardt is staying in Omaha after the Omaha Supernovas picked her in the first round of the 2025 Major League Volleyball draft on Nov. 24.
The Supernovas selected the senior middle blocker with the eighth overall pick of the draft after an outstanding career with the Bluejays. Reinhardt is joining Creighton senior outside hitter Ava Martin, drafted No. 2 by the Atlanta Vibe, as Creighton became the first program to have two players chosen in the first round of the same pro draft.
“I think I was just like so in shock at first,” Reinhardt told Hurrdat Sports. “I knew it was a potential possibility, and I had been talking with the Supernovas already, but I think it just didn’t truly feel real until I got that call. I remember I saw (head coach) Luka (Slabe)’s name pop up on my phone screen, that he was calling, and I was like, ‘O my gosh, it’s actually happening.’ It’s so crazy.”
Reinhardt said she began contacting teams about six weeks before the draft with the hopes of landing with Omaha, but she was prepared to go anywhere.
“I love the city of Omaha,” Reinhardt said. “I love living here, I think it’s just a really fun place to live. There are a lot of fun things to do, but also it’s just where my home of people are. I have really great friends here, and I think it’s one of the best places to be playing volleyball.”
The 6-foot-3 middle is in her sixth season with Creighton, totaling 781 kills and ranking No. 4 in program history with 517 blocks. The Wisconsin native has hit .330 in her career and has 59 aces, guiding the team to six Big East regular season championships, and six conference titles, while playing in a record-setting 121 career victories.
Named All-Big-East for the second consecutive season, Reinhardt is having a career year, averaging 2.51 kills per set while leading the Bluejays with 0.98 blocks per set, and she’s ranked No. 10 in the country with a .435 hitting percentage, tops in the Big East.
Creighton Bluejay Kiara Reinhardt spikes the ball against Georgetown on Sunday, November 9, 2025, in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by Brandon Tiedemann.
“We are blessed with one of the best coaching staffs in the country, and I think (former head coach) Kirsten (Bernthal Booth) had a big part in obviously developing that for so long while she was here,” Reinhardt said. “But then she also is recruiting girls who fit that culture and teammates. So, I would definitely just say that they’ve been people and teammates that have been just by my side through it all, and have pushed me to grow, but also are there through the discomfort and when things maybe aren’t going perfectly or how I imagined them. So, I’ve just had really, really, great people who have supported me really, really well, and that’s been such a big blessing and I’m really grateful for them.”
Creighton’s undergone a lot of changes this season, with Booth stepping down and Brian Rosen taking over as head coach. Rosen joined its staff in 2022 as an assistant coach before taking over in April of 2025.
“The on-the-court volleyball transition was probably as smooth as it could have gone,” Reinhardt said. “While Booth was here, he was structuring and running a lot of our practices, so when that transition came, it really was like our practices were very similarly structured and ran similar to how they used to. A lot of the drills are still the same, a lot of the feedback is still the same, and he has been the middles coaches his whole time here at Creighton, so I’m still under the same position coach, so that’s felt very, very similar.”
With all the changes, Reinhardt is continuing to have a lot of success, but is still working to improve as she gets ready for the pros.
“I’m definitely feeling more confidence offensively, and just definitely the trust I have in myself, with being able to terminate a ball and get a kill,” Reinhardt said. “That has really, really grown this season, and just always working to be an option. I feel like as a leader, I’ve grown too, of just being able to kind of navigate a whole team of very different girls is always something any team really has to navigate, but I feel like it’s been really cool to just experience that and see how it’s been leading the team. I feel like that has been really sweet, and just another part that I’m really grateful that happened here at Creighton.”
Last season, the sixth-year senior had the choice to leave the Bluejays or come back for one final season, ultimately electing to return for her final season of eligibility. She said that she spent time praying and speaking to others about it before making her decision.
“This is a year that I’m never going to be able to get back, or when I’m 50, 60, I’m never going to be able to say ‘I want to take my sixth year of volleyball now,’” Reinhardt said. “You don’t get that back, so I think just seeing the opportunity as this is really the only year in my life that I get to continue doing this, and I really feel like God is just placing the opportunity in my life, so I want to be able to say yes to that when he gives it.”
Before embarking on her pro career, however, Reinhardt and the Bluejays will look to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The third-seeded Bluejays will host for the first two rounds and will face Northern Colorado on Thursday night. That match will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first match at D.J. Sokol Arena between sixth-seeded Northern Iowa and Utah. All matches from the first two rounds will be available on ESPN+ for subscribers.
Reinhardt is staying focused on the task at hand but is also looking forward to what’s next.
“I’m really excited to just be surrounded by other pro athletes whose skill level will obviously continue to push me,” Reinhardt said. “I’m excited to be pushed and challenged a little bit more, and excited to meet new people and play with new people.”
