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MACOMB, Ill. – The Omaha volleyball team captured its first conference win on Friday night, defeating Western Illinois 3-2 (14-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-22, 15-10) at Brophy Hall. With the win, the Mavericks are now 6-10 (1-3 Summit League), while WIU falls to 7-9 (2-4 Summit League).

Senior Natalie Ebke paced the Mavs with 16 kills, seven digs and a block, while freshman Kelley Wollak added 12 kills on .308 hitting. Freshman Megan Schmale added seven kills and three blocks, and freshman Michaela Schimmer tallied six of her own, along with 20 assists and a team-leading three blocks.

Freshman Bailey Baxter finished with 28 assists, eight digs and two service aces. She helped UNO to a .221 team hitting percentage, highlighted by a .483 clip in the second set and a .450 effort in the fifth set.

Western Illinois had three players with double-figure kills: Katie Hosteng (17), Samantha Fournier (15) and Ann Miller (10). Fournier added 11 digs for a double-double, and setter Sarah Fetter contributed a match-best 53 assists for the night.

As a team, Omaha outblocked the Leathernecks, 7-4.

WIU took the first game, 25-14, but the Mavericks responded with a 25-20 win in set two. The third game saw the Leathernecks take it 25-17, and UNO rallied again with a 25-22 victory to tie the match at 2-2.

In the decisive fifth set, Wollak put up five kills on an .833 attacking performance, and Ebke added four more. WIU took an early 5-4 lead, but three straight kills from Wollak put UNO ahead 7-5. A kill apiece from Wollak and Schroedter then stretched it to 9-6. Two late scores by Ebke coupled with an ace from Baxter sealed the win at 15-10 and spotted Omaha its first Summit League win in program history.

UNO returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 29, traveling to IUPUI. The match is slated for 5 p.m. at The Jungle in Indianapolis, Ind., and links to live stats and live video will be available on OMavs.com.