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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Omaha volleyball team opened the 2012 season on Friday night, topping Norfolk State 18-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-13 for a 3-1 win at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational at Brown Field House. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 1-0 on the year, while NSU drops to 0-1 start the weekend.

Freshman outside hitter Kelley Wollak led the way with 11 kills on .304 hitting and two blocks, while senior outside hitter Natalie Ebke also finished in double figures with 10 kills. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Valerie Hecht added nine kills with an outstanding .471 attack percentage, as well as a team-best three blocks.

Redshirt freshman setter Bailey Baxter guided the UNO offense, dishing out 36 assists, along with six digs and a pair of blocks. Senior defensive specialist Amy Roberts also had a team-leading 17 digs for the day.

Norfolk State was led by 10 kills from Jessica Johnson, 31 assists by Darcy Moore and 19 digs from Noelle Eagles.

As a squad, the Mavericks hit .248 to the Spartans' .131. UNO had its best attacking performance in the fourth and final set, hitting .370 with just two errors, all while holding NSU to a .067 hitting percentage.

After dropping the first game to the Spartans (25-18), UNO came back in the second set to even the match at 1-1. NSU trailed by just one at 10-9, but Wollak, Ebke, Hecht and freshman rightside hitter Michaela Schimmer combined for eight Maverick kills and took advantage of five Spartan errors. Omaha took the second game by a score of 25-16.

The third set proved to be a battle, as the two squads sat tied at 22-22. Back-to-back kills from Wollak and freshman outside hitter Megan Schmale made it 24-22 for UNO, but NSU scored on a Maverick attack error to keep it close. Schmale had the final word, as her kill put the game away at 25-23 to give the Mavs a 2-1 lead.

Omaha's most dominant effort came in the fourth game, as the Mavericks went up 15-5 with the help of three early kills and two service aces from Hecht, who hit a perfect 4-for-4 for the set. Baxter also totaled 10 assists and Roberts added six digs during the final game. Hecht's fourth kill, along with points from Schmale and Schimmer, allowed UNO to charge out to 20-10. A final 5-3 run, during which time the Mavs capitalized on two NSU errors and tallied three kills, capped the game at 25-13 and sealed their 3-1 road victory.

UNO returns to action on Saturday, Aug. 25, facing Hartford at Noon (CT) and host Navy at 5 p.m. (CT). Links to live stats for both matches will be available on OMavs.com, and free live video will be available for the UNO-Navy finale.