Complete Release
Live Stats (Norfolk State/Hartford/Navy)
Live Video (vs. Navy only)
The Omaha volleyball team opens the 2012 season this weekend, traveling to the Kristen Dickmann Invitational in Annapolis, Md. The tournament opener against Norfolk State is set for Friday, Aug. 24 at Brown Field House at 3 p.m. (CT), followed by a pair of Saturday matches against Hartford (Noon) and host Navy (5 p.m.). Links to live stats for all three matches will be available on OMavs.com, and the UNO-Navy match will feature free live video.
Nebraska Omaha is in its second year as a reclassifying Division I school in 2012-13 and officially joined The Summit League in July 2012 with a full regular-season conference schedule ahead. The Mavericks are led by head coach Rose Shires, who is in her 23rd year at the helm of the UNO program with a career record of 429-267.
Scouting the Norfolk State
Norfolk State enters the weekend with a record of 0-0 (0-0 MEAC) and returns seven letterwinners, including four starters from last year's 9-16 squad. Head coach Brandon Duvall enters his third year with the Spartans and holds a career record of 22-36. Friday marks the first meeting in program history between Omaha and NSU.
Scouting the Hartford Hawks
Hartford enters the first week of the season with a record of 0-0 (0-0 America East) and returns 10 letterwinners and five starters from the 2011 team that went 12-18. The Hawks will face Navy on Friday night before seeing the Mavericks on Saturday. Head coach Alex Temkin is in his first year at Hartford but holds a career mark of 122-102. This weekend marks the first meeting in program history between UNO and Hartford.
Scouting the Navy Midshipmen
Navy, which is the host for the Kristen Dickmann Invitational, has a record of 0-0 (0-0 Patriot League) entering the weekend. The Midshipmen will play Hartford on Friday night and Norfolk State on Saturday morning before the tournament finale against UNO that evening. Navy went 6-23 in head coach Larry Bock's first season in 2011, and Bock holds a career record of 1,258-215 in 35 years of coaching. The Midshipmen return eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's squad. Saturday is the first meeting between Omaha and Navy.
Welcome to The Summit League
The 2012 season marks UNO's first year with a full regular-season Summit League schedule. UNO will play all eight Summit League foes twice, once in Omaha and once on the road, starting with a Sept. 14 match against South Dakota State. Although the Mavericks will appear in the Summit League standings, they cannot qualify for the Summit League Championship or the NCAA Tournament, and Maverick student-athletes are not eligible for all-conference awards until 2015-16.
Youth Defines Mavericks in 2012
Omaha returns five letterwinners from its 2011 squad, led by a trio of seniors: outside hitter Natalie Ebke, middle blocker Chelsea Snyder and defensive specialist Amy Roberts. Sophomore middle blocker Jessy Schroedter and sophomore defensive specialist Rachelle Kruml also provided depth in their freshman campaigns.
UNO is defined by the youth on its roster, which includes five true freshmen and four redshirt freshmen who will challenge for starting positions.
Home Sweet Home
After playing just four home dates at Sapp Fieldhouse in 2011, Omaha has a much more typical schedule on tap for 2012. The Mavericks will play 10 home matches, including eight against Summit League opponents. UNO opens the home slate against Syracuse on Sept. 4 and also hosts a strong non-conference foe with Drake on Sept. 21.
Summit League Preseason Poll Announced
The Summit League released its annual preseason volleyball coaches' poll on Aug. 15, with newcomer Omaha picked ninth for its first year of conference play. The poll was conducted with a vote of the league's head coaches.
Two-time defending Summit League champion North Dakota State was selected as the preseason favorite to repeat. The Bison, looking to win their third straight league title and fourth in five years, collected six first-place votes and 62 total points to lead the poll. Fort Wayne came in second with 58 points and the final three first-place tallies. Oakland and South Dakota State tied for third with 43 points, while five points separated IUPUI and South Dakota in fifth and sixth. Rounding out the poll were Kansas City (23 points), Western Illinois (13) and Omaha (11).
2012 Schedule Highlighted by Four NCAA Tournament Qualifiers
In 2011, Omaha played a mixed schedule with Division I and Division II competition, but the 2012 season will be the Mavericks' first with a full Division I slate for their second year of reclassification. UNO has 28 matches against 20 different opponents, 11 of whom it has never faced in program history. The Mavs will also play in nine different states.
In addition, four foes were 2011 NCAA Tournament qualifiers: defending Summit League champion North Dakota State, Kansas State, Northern Illinois and Tulsa. Of those four, KSU had the longest postseason run, falling to Pepperdine in the semifinals of the Honolulu Regional.
Shires Enters 23rd Year as Winningest Coach in School History
Head Coach Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 42 years of UNO volleyball history. Entering her 23rd year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 429-267 (.616), with the most wins of the five coaches who have served at Nebraska Omaha.
The 1996 AVCA National Coach of the Year and a two-time conference coach of the year, Shires has enjoyed tremendous success as UNO's guide. The 1996 campaign saw her lead UNO to a national championship as well as its first North Central Conference championship since 1987, followed by an Elite Eight appearance in 1997. In NCAA Tournament play, Shires' squads have combined for 11 appearances and a 10-10 postseason mark.
Shires is assisted by Associate Head Coach Karen Povondra, who is in her 23rd season with UNO, and Assistant Coach Tanya Cate, who is in her third year on the Maverick staff.
Ebke Aims for Top 10 in Digs
Senior outside hitter Natalie Ebke enters her season as UNO's top returner, having averaged 2.99 kills and 2.89 digs as a junior. A three-year starter, she needs 274 digs to break into the top 10 in school history for career digs. Sitting at 965 career digs through 2011, her first target to reach will be 1,239 to tie Erin Shafer (1994-97).
Kids Growing Up In the Heartland
The 2012 UNO roster is loaded with local talent, as 11 of the 14 players listed hail from seven Nebraska towns. Two come from Grand Island -- redshirt freshman Bailey Baxter (Central Catholic) and freshman Michaela Schimmer (Northwest) -- while another pair -- senior Chelsea Snyder and freshman Jenna Schlautman -- come from the same program at Skutt Catholic. Three are products of Lincoln high schools: redshirt freshmen Kimberly Bailey (North Star) and Diane Banderas (Southwest) and senior Natalie Ebke (East), and senior Amy Roberts is a native of Norfolk. Sophomores Jessy Schroedter and Rachelle Kruml hail from Fremont and Ord, respectively, and freshman Megan Schmale calls Murdock her hometown.
2011-12 Squad Earns 13th Straight AVCA Academic Award
UNO earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Team Academic Award for the 13th straight year, the AVCA announced in July. As a team, the Mavericks recorded a 3.55 grade-point average during the 2011-12 academic year to claim the honor, which was their 13th straight and 16th overall.
The annual AVCA award honors collegiate and high school volleyball programs that display excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale.
2011 Seniors Leave Legacy
UNO had an exceptional senior class in 2011, as all three athletes -- libero Angie Reicks, middle blocker Brittany Hanssen and setter Emily Myers -- left their mark in the school record books. Reicks finished her career as the all-time leader in career digs, racking up 1,935 over four years as a starter and breaking a 17-year-old UNO record. She also holds the single-match mark with 46 digs in a game, set in her sophomore year against Central Missouri.
Myers closed her career ranked No. 2 in career assists, totaling 4,102 over four seasons, while Hanssen clinched her spot among UNO's best blockers at No. 10 with 325 block assists and No. 15 with 342 total blocks.
Up Next
Omaha travels to the Kansas Volleyball Invitational, Aug. 31 - Sept. 1, at Horejsi Family Athletics Center in Lawrence, Kan. The Mavericks open the tournament with a pair of Friday matches against Arkansas State at 9 a.m. and Sam Houston State at 4:30 p.m., followed by a Saturday finale against Tulsa at 11:30 a.m. Links to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.
