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Tournament Central
The Omaha volleyball team hits the road this weekend for the Kansas Volleyball Invitational, Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 in Lawrence, Kan. The tournament opener against Arkansas State is set for Friday at the Horejsi Center at 9 a.m., followed by a 4:30 match with Sam Houston State. UNO closes with Tulsa on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., and links to live stats for all three matches will be available on OMavs.com.
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 432-267. Friday's opener marks her 700th career game coached.
Scouting the Arkansas State Red Wolves
Arkansas State enters the weekend with a record of 2-2 (0-0 Sun Belt), having defeated Memphis 3-0 on Tuesday. ASU returns12 letterwinners, including six starters from last year's 20-11 squad. Head coach David Rehr is in his first year with the Red Wolves and holds a career record of 2-2. Friday marks the first meeting in program history between Omaha and ASU.
Scouting the Sam Houston State Bearkats
Sam Houston State enters the weekend with a record of 2-1 (0-0 Southland) and returns nine letterwinners and four starters from the 2011 team that went 18-13. The Bearkats will face Kansas on Friday morning before seeing the Mavericks that afternoon. Head coach Brenda Gray is in her 29th year at SHSU and holds a career mark of 577-412. UNO is 1-0 all-time over Sam Houston State, having last won 3-2 on Dec. 14, 1985 in Portland, Ore.
Scouting the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa has a record of 2-2 (0-0 Conference USA) entering the weekend, most recently falling 3-0 to Arkansas on Tuesday. The Golden Hurricane face Arkansas State and Kansas on Friday before the finale against UNO on Saturday. TU went 28-7 (18-2 C-USA) and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2011, and head coach Steven McRoberts holds a career record of 426-148 in 16 years of coaching. Tulsa returns nine letterwinners and six starters from last year's squad. UNO leads the all-time series with the Hurricane, 5-1, having last won 2-0 on Oct. 13, 1984 in St. Joseph, Mo.
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. Last weekend at the Kristen Dickmann Invitational, seven Maverick newcomers saw time on the floor, including four who started all three matches: Megan Schmale, Bailey Baxter, Michaela Schimmer and Valerie Hecht.
Baxter, Roberts Named to Kristen Dickmann Invitational All-Tournament Team
For their efforts at last weekend's Kristen Dickmann Invitational, redshirt freshman Bailey Baxter and senior Amy Roberts were both named to the all-tournament team, and Baxter was voted the tournament's most valuable player. As the Mavs' starting setter, Baxter averaged 9.50 assists, 1.70 digs and 0.40 blocks per set and guided UNO to a .272 hitting percentage, including a weekend-best .309 clip in the finale against Navy. Roberts led the Mavericks defensively with a team-leading 3.80 digs per set.
Hecht Leading Mavs at the Net
Redshirt freshman Valerie Hecht was solid in her career debut last weekend, as she led UNO in blocks in all three matches. The Bern, Kan., native had 1.10 blocks per set, which ranks second in the Summit League. Hecht posted a trio of blocks against Norfolk State, followed by identical performances of four stops against Hartford and Navy.
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 432-267 (.618), 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 247 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 hosts its first home match with Syracuse on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at Sapp Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Links to live stats and live video will be available on OMavs.com.
