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OMAHA, Neb.  -- The UNO volleyball team got another taste of Summit League competition Wednesday night, narrowly falling 3-2 to UMKC in front of a season-high crowd of 2,429 fans at Sapp Fieldhouse. With the 25-19, 20-25, 27-25, 25-21, 10-15 loss, the Mavericks, who are in their first year of reclassifying to Division I, drop to 2-12 on the year, while the Kangaroos improve to 6-7.

“I was very pleased with our team's performance tonight,” Head Coach Rose Shires said. “We played well enough to win, but we just need to execute on clutch plays. We just ran out of gas in that fifth set.

“We had a tremendous crowd at Sapp Fieldhouse tonight, and it was gratifying to see so many fans coming out to support us.”

Senior middle blocker Brittany Hanssen had an outstanding night, achieving the first double-double of her career with a career-high 10 blocks and 10 kills. Her block total helped the Mavs finish with season-best 15.5 total team blocks to the Roos' seven.

Junior outside hitter Natalie Ebke also finished with 16 kills and 12 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the season, and sophomore outside hitter Abby Sorensen chipped in 11 kills and four blocks off the bench. In addition, junior middle blocker Lizzy Mach contributed seven blocks of her own, and junior middle blocker Chelsea Snyder had a career-best five stops in her start.

Senior libero Angie Reicks also made her mark on the night, as she finished with 22 digs to move up to second all-time in school history for career digs. Reicks now has 1,705 in four years at UNO, passing former Maverick Tracy Ankeny (1997-2000), who had 1,691.

UMKC was led by Elizabeth Beck's 19 kills and another 17 from Kelsey Knoche, who also had 24 digs for a double-double. Christiana McQuin topped the Roos at the net with five blocks.

UNO jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first set and never relinquished it, keeping a steady advantage of at least two points. Four straight kills from sophomore right side hitter Ali Jansen and Mach opened the performance, and Jansen led the Mavericks with seven kills on an errorless effort. The Mavericks had a solid .317 team hitting performance in the first set – their highest of the night – to take the 25-19 win.

UMKC turned around to hit .323 in the second game, jetting out to a 14-6 lead. The Mavericks then went on an 11-4 run to bring it within one at 18-17. UMKC, led by six kills from Beck, held Nebraska Omaha to just three more scores, going on to win 25-20.

With the match tied at 1-1, UNO and UMKC each looked to find an edge in the third set. UMKC's lead swelled to 11-5 early on, but the Mavericks battled to close in at 20-18. UNO finally tied it at 24-24 on a kill from Hanssen, and the two squads traded points to push it to 26-25, UMKC. The Roos' Knoche then capped the game with a kill, giving UMKC the 27-25 win. Within the set, Mach and Hanssen each put up a trio of blocks to aid Sorensen's five kills.

Looking to rebound in the fourth set, the Mavericks set the pace early with seven of the first ten points. UNO was led by another five kills from Sorensen, along with four apiece by Hanssen and Ebke, and three Reicks service aces. After UMKC threatened at 21-20, the Mavericks took control and went on to defeat the Roos with a set score of 25-21.

In the fifth and final game, the Kangaroos took an immediate 4-1 lead, then held UNO to a .045 attacking performance. Four kills from Beck sealed the deal, giving UMKC the 15-10 set win and the overall match victory at 3-2.

UNO returns to action on Friday, Sept. 23, traveling to North Dakota. The match is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D.