Box Score OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha volleyball team opened Summit League play Friday night, dropping a competitive match to defending conference champion IUPUI, 3-2 (26-24, 18-25, 17-25, 25-13, 11-15). Omaha is now 5-9 (0-1 Summit League) on the season, while IUPUI improves to 7-9 (1-0 Summit League).
Junior outside hitter
Kelley Wollak led the charge, finishing with her sixth double-double of the year on a match-high 21 kills with 18 digs. The Bloomington, Minn., native had 62 swings on the night with just three attack errors.
Three other Mavericks finished with double-doubles on the night as well: freshman outside hitter
Mackenzie Horkey (11 kills, 14 digs), freshman setter
Sydney O'Shaughnessy (12 digs, 26 assists) and junior libero
Kimberly Bailey (25 digs, 10 assists).
The Omaha blocking corps was strong again, as UNO outblocked IUPUI 13-3. The junior trio of
Megan Schmale (seven stops),
Michaela Schimmer (six) and
Diane Banderas (five) led the charge at the net, helping UNO outblock its opponent for the third consecutive game. The Mavericks also outhit IUPUI, .149 to .118.
IUPUI was led by double-doubles from Alexis Mapes (42 assists, 14 digs), Meredith Farkas (16 kills, 13 digs) and Kaitlyn Hickey (21 kills, 14 digs).
Omaha battled to take a 1-0 lead in the opening game, tying the score eight times. Locked at 24-24, the Mavericks forced back-to-back IUPUI attack errors to take the set, 26-24.
The Jaguars rebounded to win the second set, 25-18, hitting .222 as a squad. They also took the third set, 25-17, to go up by a 2-1 advantage.
UNO bounced back in game four, earning a dominating 25-13 win as the Mavericks outblocked IUPUI, 4-0. Down 10-8, Omaha strung together a 15-2 run capped by a Wollak kill, surging out to a 23-12 lead. IUPUI managed just one more score, after which a Schimmer kill and a Jaguar error gave the Mavericks the win to tie the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and final game, IUPUI's offensive attack came alive, as the Jaguars hit .389 with no errors. They took a 10-5 lead to force a UNO timeout, but the Mavericks cut it to a two-point deficit at 11-9 with a service ace from Wollak. IUPUI went on to take the set by a score of 15-11, however, clinching the 3-2 win to open conference play.
Omaha returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 28, traveling to Western Illinois. The match is set for 2 p.m. in Macomb, Ill., and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
