Box Score TULSA, Okla. -- The Omaha volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) sweep of Oral Roberts Friday evening at Cooper Aerobics Center, using its fourth straight win to rise to first place in the Summit League. The Mavericks are now 9-8 (4-0 Summit League), while the Golden Eagles drop to 10-8 (4-1 Summit League).
Senior middle blocker
Amy Taylor led the Mavericks with nine kills on .412 hitting and added four blocks. Senior outside hitter
Kelley Wollak and sophomore outside hitter
Mackenzie Horkey added seven kills apiece, with Wollak drumming up nine digs as well.
Senior rightside hitter
Michaela Schimmer had six kills along with four digs and a match-high six blocks, while senior middle blocker
Megan Schmale chipped in another five kills on a .444 attack percentage along with five blocks and two aces.
Senior libero
Kimberly Bailey paced Omaha defensively with 15 digs, helping the Mavericks outdig ORU 50-43. Sophomore
Sydney O'Shaughnessy had 26 assists, seven digs and two aces, guiding UNO to outhit the Golden Eagles .261 to .125. The Mavericks also outblocked Oral Roberts 10-3 for the night, marking their eighth performance this season with 10 or more team blocks.
Oral Roberts had two players with double-figure kill nights, with 12 apiece from Shelby Cox, who hit .450, and Laura Milos. Lucija Bojanjac finished with a double-double on 30 assists and 17 digs.
The Mavericks started the match strong, hitting at a .273 clip to ORU's .027 in the first set. After the Golden Eagles took a 13-9 lead, Omaha loosened ORU's grip and tied the game at 16-16 with a kill by Schimmer and an ace from freshman outside hitter
Gessica Gdowski. Oral Roberts took the next point, but the Mavericks strung together two Oral Roberts errors, kills by Wollak and Schmale and a Schmale ace to go up 21-18. The Golden Eagles responded by knotting it once more at 21-21, but Omaha called a timeout and took back the momentum with a swift 4-0 run. Back-to-back Taylor kills -- her third and fourth of the set -- plus an ORU attack error and a Taylor/Schimmer block spurred UNO to the win, 25-21.
Game two saw another late tie at 17-17, but the Mavericks once again worked past the threat. A 4-0 run on two Oral Roberts errors, an O'Shaughnessy ace and a Horkey kill pushed Omaha to a 21-17 lead. The Mavs then maintained their four-point advantage at 23-19 with a Wollak kill and a Taylor/Schimmer block. Two plays later, Horkey put down a kill at 24-20 to make it set point, and two plays after that, an ORU service ace closed the game at 25-21 as Omaha built a 2-0 match lead.
UNO's attack came through in a big way in the final set, as the Mavericks hit .417 with just two errors while holding the Golden Eagles to a .167 effort with seven miscues. Omaha also outblocked Oral Roberts 4-1 in the game, led by three stops from Schmale. After trailing early at 7-6, the Mavericks scored five straight and never looked back. They eventually worked out to a 19-15 lead, aided by a Taylor kill, a Bailey ace and a Schimmer/Schmale block. UNO then capitalized on consecutive ORU errors to make it 21-17, after which the Golden Eagles threatened at 21-20 on a kill and two aces from Milos. The Mavericks, however, calmly responded with a quick Horkey kill to avoid another tie. Holding a slight 22-21 lead, Omaha finished it off with an ORU attack error, a Schmale ace and a Taylor kill -- her ninth of the night – to earn the 25-21 win and the match sweep at 3-0.
Omaha returns to action Sunday, Oct. 11, visiting Denver at 3 p.m. CT. Links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.