Match Results
- #11 Nebraska def. Omaha 3-0, (26-24, 25-15, 25-13)
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Omaha Challenge
- Attendance: 5,351
- Match Stats
#11 VolleyMob ranked Nebraska takes down Omaha in three to conclude the Omaha Challenge.
Nebraska fell behind early 5-1 on four unforced hitting errors, but an Annika Albrecht kill sparked a 4-0 run that tied up the set at 5-5. The Mavericks stayed ahead for the majority of the set by two or three points until late, when Nebraska made their run back. The score was even at 19-19 but Omaha took a 22-20 lead on a Sydney O’Shaughnessy ace. Two hitting errors for the Mavericks put the score even at 23-23 but a Megan Roth kill gave the Mavs set point at 24-23. Mikaela Foecke put down a kill to tie things at 24 apiece then a hitting error gave the Huskers their first lead since 1-0. Albrecht finished off the set with her sixth kill of the match to take the first 26-24.
The Huskers came out strong in the second set, pushing to a 13-6 lead early. They continued to put the pressure on the Mavericks as they cruised to a 25-15 second set win. The third began much the same as the second, with the Huskers taking a commanding lead early and keeping it throughout the set to take the match 25-13.
Leading the Huskers was Albrecht with 15 kills on a .375 hitting clip while adding eight digs and two blocks. Kelly Hunter dished out 37 assists and nine digs while Kenzie Maloney picked up a match-best 14 digs.
For Omaha, Mackenzie Horkey put down nine kills and six digs while setter O’Shaughnessy handed out 23 assists and nine digs.
Press Release
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
The 10th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team concluded the Omaha Challenge with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-13) sweep of the Omaha Mavericks in front of a crowd of 5,351 at Baxter Arena on Saturday night. Nebraska, UNI and Kansas State finished the tournament with 2-1 records, but the Huskers won the tournament via tiebreaker as the only team to have swept the other common opponent, UNO.
The Huskers finished non-conference play with a 7-3 record and will begin Big Ten play at No. 2 Penn State next Friday. UNO fell to 3-10 overall. The Mavericks came ready to play and led for almost the entirety of set one, even earning set point at 24-23. But the Huskers didn’t panic and rallied to score the final three points of the set before going on to dominate sets two and three.
Annika Albrecht led the Huskers for the second time on the day with 15 kills on .375 hitting. She added eight digs and a pair of blocks. Albrecht was named co-MVP of the tournament. Briana Holman had eight kills and two blocks, while Lauren Stivrins had seven kills and four blocks. Jazz Sweet added seven kills on .462 hitting.
Kelly Hunter had 37 assists and nine digs while leading the Huskers to a .327 hitting percentage. Hunter and Stivrins were also named to the all-tournament team. Over the last two sets, Nebraska hit .450. Kenzie Maloney had 14 digs as the Huskers won the digs battle, 48-34.
UNO was led by Mackenzie Horkey’s nine kills. The Huskers held the Mavs to .118 hitting.
Set 1: The Huskers fell behind 5-1 due to four unforced hitting errors. A kill by Albrecht started a 4-0 Husker that tied the set at 5-5 when Sweet tapped a kill down. The Mavs went back ahead 8-5 before Sweet terminated again. Omaha continued to lead 13-10 after three Husker service errors and a block by Horkey and Bella Sade. The Mavs pushed their lead to five, 16-11, shortly after the media timeout. Albrecht stepped up with the Huskers down 18-14 as she pounded two kills and got a block with Stivrins to cut it to 18-17 and force a UNO timeout. Later, Stivrins added a kill and Omaha hit wide to even the set at 19-19. The Mavs went back in front, 22-20, on an ace by Sydney O’Shaughnessy. The Mavs committed a pair of hitting errors to level the score at 23-23. The Mavs gained set point at 24-23 on a kill by Meagen Roth. After a timeout, Mikaela Foecke put down a kill after the Huskers were initially denied twice at the net, and UNO hit wide for set point for NU at 25-24 its first lead since 1-0. Albrecht finished the job for the Big Red with her sixth kill. Nebraska hit .159 in the set but held Omaha to .000.
Set 2: The Huskers came out sharper in set two and used three kills by Stivrins to go up 13-6. Foecke also had two kills to spark Nebraska to the early advantage. The Huskers continued to pile on kills with Stivrins, Hunter and Holman adding three in a row to help Nebraska to an 18-9 lead via a 4-0 run. Holman produced another kill and a block with Stivrins for a 23-12 advantage, and the Big Red cruised to a decisive 25-15 victory after a nail biter of a first set.
Set 3: Sweet sparked the Huskers in the third set with three kills and a block as Nebraska went ahead 7-2. After UNO cut it to 10-8, Holman blasted three kills along with one by Albrecht for a 14-8 lead. But Holman was injured on the next rally and had to leave the match while freshman Chesney McClellan stepped in for the first playing time of her career. Albrecht carried the attack for the Huskers with three kills to lift NU to an 18-9 lead. Another kill by Albrecht started a 4-0 run that included a block by Stivrins and Hunter, a kill by Hunter and an ace by Albrecht, as NU went up 23-11. Stivrins earned match point for the Huskers at 24-12, and Olivia Boender ended the match at 25-13 with her first kill of the evening. NU outscored UNO 15-5 over the last 20 rallies.
Up Next: Nebraska begins Big Ten play on the road next weekend. The Huskers will play at No. 2 Penn State on Friday and at Rutgers on Saturday.
All-Tournament Team
Annika Albrecht, Nebraska (Co-MVP)
Heather Hook, UNI (Co-MVP)
Kendyl Sorge, UNI (Best Libero)
Kelly Hunter, Nebraska
Lauren Stivrins, Nebraska
Piper Thomas, UNI
Bryna Vogel, Kansas State
Mackenzie Horkey, Omaha
Press Release
Courtesy of Omaha Athletics
The Omaha volleyball team met in-state foe Nebraska for the first time since 1990 Saturday night, falling 3-0 (24-26, 15-25, 13-25) in the finale of the Omaha Challenge in front of 5,351 fans at Baxter Arena. The Mavericks are now 3-10 after completing the non-conference portion of their schedule, while the 10th-ranked Huskers improve to 7-3.
Leaders for Omaha
Junior Mackenzie Horkey was named to the all-tournament team and led the Mavericks with nine kills in addition to six digs and a block. Senior Sydney O’Shaughnessy finished just shy of a double-double with 23 assists and a team-leading nine digs, as well as four kills, one block and an ace.
Freshman Bella Sade had a solid night at the net, posting a match-high four blocks. Sophomore Meagen Roth added two more stops with seven kills and eight digs.
Leaders for Nebraska
Nebraska was led by Annika Albrecht’s 15 kills on .375 hitting with eight digs, two blocks and an ace. Kelly Hunter added 37 assists and nine digs, and Lauren Stivrins chipped in four blocks and seven kills for the night.
Team Stats
The Huskers hit .327 to Omaha’s .118, and the two teams were even at the net with six blocks apiece.
Inside Set 1
Omaha came out with fire, grabbing a 5-1 edge after four Husker errors and an O’Shaughnessy kill early in the first set. After NU equalized it with a kill by Jazz Sweet at 5-5, Omaha took the lead again and worked to a 15-11 advantage by the media timeout. Sade lifted the Mavericks out of the break with a key solo block, and the Mavericks assumed their largest lead of the set at 17-12 on a kill by Roth.
NU got back-to-back kills from Albrecht, followed by a Stivrins/Albrecht block to cut it to 18-17 and force an Omaha timeout. The Mavericks’ lead held until NU tied it at 19-19, and after another stall at 20-20, Omaha shot ahead once more with a Horkey kill and an O’Shaughnessy ace. Following a Husker timeout, a setting error made it 23-21 in favor of Omaha, but the Huskers knotted it once more at 23-all on a pair of Maverick attacking miscues. After another timeout, Roth stepped up with another kill to push Omaha to set point at 24-23, but NU finished the set with three straight scores to win it 26-24.
Inside Set 2
Omaha and Nebraska traded points early in the second set, but back-to-back kills from Mikaela Foecke and Briana Holman sparked the Huskers, who never allowed the Mavericks back in. NU built its largest lead at 20-10 and ultimately took the game, 25-15.
Inside Set 3
NU led nearly the entire third set, pushing past a 1-1 tie with a 4-0 spurt. Omaha took its first timeout of the set at 13-8, and the Huskers went on a 5-1 roll from there to lead 19-8 by the next break. Led by six kills from Albrecht, NU hit .500 in the set and won it 25-13 to seal the match at 3-0.
Noting the Omaha Challenge
-Nebraska, UNI and K-State finished the Omaha Challenge with identical 2-1 records, but NU won the tournament by a tiebreaker as the only team to have defeated the other common opponent, UNO, in three sets.
Up Next
Omaha opens Summit League play on Friday, Sept. 22, welcoming South Dakota State to Baxter Arena at 7 p.m. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
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