OMAHA, Neb. - The University of Nebraska at Omaha split a pair of matches to open the 2008 volleyball season Friday in the Comfort Inn & Suites/Firewater Grille Tournament at the Sapp Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks swept Minnesota Crookston in three sets before losing a heartbreaker to Northern Michigan in five sets in the final match of the day.
Minnesota Crookston box score
Junior outside hitter
Sara Kampschnieder recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs as UNO cruised to a 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-15) victory over Minnesota Crookston.
Freshman
Brittany Hanssen hit a sizzling .750 with six kills, no errors in eight attempts as UNO outhit the Golden Eagles .330 to .120 in the match.
Freshman
Lizzy Mach led UNO defensively at the net with five blocks to go along with six kills on .417 hitting.
In the backcourt, junior
Kayla Jansen recorded a match-high 13 digs in the victory as UNO out-dug UMC 47 to 32.
Northern Michigan box score
The Mavericks blew a two-game lead as Northern Michigan stormed from behind to record a 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 16-14) win over UNO.
Junior outside hitter
Kelli Goeser led UNO with 18 kills and 10 digs. Junior
Ellen Thommes added 16 kills on .520 hitting along with three blocks.
Mach and Hannsen each notched a match-high six blocks. The Mavericks were led defensively by freshman
Angie Reicks' 30 digs.
Freshman
Emily Myers dished out 51 assists while adding 13 digs to record her first career double-double.
The Mavericks were plagued by 11 service errors with only one service ace in the match.
Nebraska-Omaha led 18-15 in the third game and was on the verge of a three-game sweep when the Wildcats staged their come back. NMU capitalized on four UNO attack errors down the stretch. The Mavericks led 22-20 when NMU reeled off five points in a row to pull out a 25-22 third-set victory.
The Mavericks led only briefly in the early stages of the fourth game as Northern Michigan forced a decisive fifth game with a 25-22 win.
UNO trailed 7-3 in the fifth, but three kills by Goeser and one by Myers, combined with a Wildcat attack error help the Mavericks score five-straight points to take an 8-7 advantage at the side change.
The Mavericks save two match points at 14-12 with two-straight attack errors by the Wildcats' Daniela Bezerra. However, a kill by Bezerra and a mis-timed set between Myers and Hannsen gave NMU the victory.
The Mavericks continue action Saturday in the tournament with a 2 p.m. match against Mary before concluding with a 6:30 p.m. contest against Rockhurst.
