Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Box Score vs. Arkansas State (PDF/HTML)
Box Score vs. Sam Houston State (PDF/HTML)

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Omaha volleyball team battled hard but came up just short in two matches at the Kansas Volleyball Invitational on Friday, falling 3-1 to Arkansas State and 3-1 to Sam Houston State at the Horejsi Center. The Mavericks dropped the ASU match by scores of 18-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-25, followed by scores of 25-19 18-25 29-31, 18-25 to SHSU. UNO is now 3-2 (0-0 Summit League) on the year.

Freshman Michaela Schimmer starred in both matches for the Mavericks, putting up a triple-double against Arkansas State and a double-double against Sam Houston State. For the day, Schimmer totaled a combined 16 kills, 35 assists and 22 digs, along with six blocks. In the opening match with ASU, she tallied 13 kills, 15 assists and 11 digs with .478 hitting, followed by three kills, 20 assists and 11 digs in the nightcap against SHSU.

“I thought we were definitely challenged in both matches we played today,” head coach Rose Shires said. “The entire team stepped up and really competed at a high level. To see a freshman like Michaela Schimmer be a triple threat in digging, hitting and setting, that is an outstanding accomplishment, particularly against the level of teams we're facing at the Kansas invitational this weekend.”

MATCH 1 – ARKANSAS STATE 3, OMAHA 1
In the tournament opener, Schimmer achieved the rare triple-double with 13 kills, 15 assists and 11 digs, all with an outstanding .478 hitting percentage and just two attack errors. She became the first Maverick in 13 years to post a triple-double, as Krista Niezwaag had the last one with 15 kills, 13 digs and 10 blocks against North Dakota State on Sept. 18, 1999.

Freshman Bailey Baxter had a team-leading 19 assists and 12 digs for a double-double, while senior Natalie Ebke added 11 digs and seven kills. Freshman Valerie Hecht also tallied seven kills, five digs, two aces and three blocks. UNO's leader at the net was sophomore Jessy Schroedter, who had a match-best four blocks.

Arkansas State was led by two players with double-figure kills: Kelsey Sullivan (11) and Ashley Tipps (10), both of whom hit over .300. Allison Kearney's 37 assists helped the ASU offense outhit UNO, .181 to .107, and Megan Baska finished with 21 digs and four aces. Tipps, Kearney and Kelsie Hodges each tallied three blocks.

The Red Wolves challenged UNO in the first set, hitting .407 as a team to take a 25-18 opening win.
The Mavericks played it closer in the second game, leading until ASU tied it at 13-13. UNO managed to keep it within three, then cut it to a one-point game at 19-18. A Schimmer kill again made it a one-point deficit at 22-21, but kills by Sullivan and Hodges and an ace from Haley Townsend gave Arkansas State the 25-22 victory for a 2-0 advantage.

Facing a sweep, Omaha battled back in the third set, never relinquishing its early lead. Ahead 8-5, the Mavericks surged forward to a 14-5 advantage with the help of kills from Schimmer, Hecht and Schroedter, as well as a Schroedter/Hecht block. UNO then took it out to 19-11, and two closing kills from Ebke and Hecht put it away at 25-20.

Arkansas State, however, charged back in the fourth game, holding UNO to negative hitting and relying up a 3-for-4 attacking effort from Tipps. The Red Wolves went on to take at 25-15 win to close the match at 3-1.

MATCH 2 – SAM HOUSTON STATE 3, OMAHA 1
Schimmer shined again in the second match with a team-best 20 assists and 11 digs for a double-double, as well as five blocks. Ebke tallied a double-double of her own, finishing with 12 kills and 16 digs, while freshman Diane Banderas made her mark with 11 kills. Baxter added 16 assists, while freshman Kimberly Bailey had 16 digs and senior Amy Roberts had a squad-leading 22. Hecht matched Schimmer's block total of five stops, and freshman Megan Schmale chipped in another four.

The Mavericks came out swinging in the first set, outhitting the Bearkats .235 to .119. Tied at 6-6, Omaha went on a 6-0 run with the help of three Bearkat errors. A kill and a block from Schmale came back-to-back, Banderas posted two kills and Baxter added an ace, bringing it to 12-6. SHSU brought it back to a 19-19 tie, but the Mavs used another 6-0 run to put it away, as Banderas and Schmale combined for three straight kills, and a pair of Baxter aces sealed a 25-19 win.

Sam Houston State fired back in game two to even the match at 1-1. The Bearkats took an early 6-2 lead, but the Mavericks tied it at 7-7 on a Banderas kill. Three scores from Ebke later made it 13-13, but SHSU went on a five-point run to go up 18-13. An ace and a kill from Ebke, followed by a double block from Banderas and Hecht, brought UNO within two, but the Bearkats went on to win game two, 25-18.

A marathon third set saw UNO lead by as much as six at 18-12, and the Mavericks never trailed until SHSU managed to knot it at 21-all, then went ahead on a kill from Devene Wells-Gibson. Two Banderas kills allowed the Mavs to regain the lead, but the score stalled at a tie six more times. At 29-29, the Bearkats used a kill from Kendall Cleveland and a heartbreaking Maverick error to grab the win, 31-29.

The Bearkats' momentum carried into game four, during which they limited the UNO attack. SHSU surged out to an 11-3 lead, then carried it out to 22-10. With the score 24-13, UNO rattled off five straight points, but Kaylee Hawkins' final kill gave Sam Houston State the fourth set at 25-18.

Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 1, facing Tulsa at the Kansas Volleyball Invitational. The match is slated to start at 11:30 a.m. at the Horejsi Center in Lawrence, Kan., and a link to live stats will be available on OMavs.com.