This Weekend
The Omaha volleyball team begins a three-match road stretch this weekend, visiting North Dakota State on Friday, Oct. 13 and Oral Roberts on Sunday, Oct. 15. Friday's match is set for 7 p.m. in Fargo, N.D., and Sunday's action starts at 1 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla. Links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
•Omaha saw its three-match win streak snapped last Tuesday after a perfect 3-0 start to Summit League play.
•
Abby Bergsten's 22 kills vs. Denver on Oct. 3 were the most of any Omaha player this season. It was also her second straight performance with 20+ kills, as she had 20 at Fort Wayne on Oct. 1.
•Bergsten averaged a team-leading 4.29 kills per set last weekend, while
Bella Sade had 1.38 blocks per set and
Claire Mountjoy tallied 6.25 digs per set.
•Omaha has had six double-figure block performances as a team this year.
•The Mavericks welcomed 10,525 fans to the Omaha Challenge over three days at Baxter Arena, Sept. 14-16. The tournament finale saw a crowd of 5,351 fans for the match between No. 10 Nebraska and Omaha, marking the largest volleyball crowd in Baxter Arena history.
•Omaha was picked to finish in a tie for fifth in the 2017 Summit League Preseason Poll. It finished seventh in the league standings in 2016.
•Head coach
Rose Shires, the winningest coach in program history, is in her 28th year at Omaha.
•Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy has led the Mavericks in double-doubles each of the last three seasons with 19 in her freshman campaign, 24 as a sophomore and 13 more as a junior. Her 65 career double-doubles are the most of any active Maverick.
•O'Shaughnessy is the only Maverick with All-Summit honors on her resume, as she was a 2015 all-league performer.
•Omaha returns eight letterwinners, including four starters, from 2016.
•All-time, Omaha is 1,025-605-7.
Scouting the North Dakota State Bison
North Dakota State enters the weekend with a record of 12-5 (3-2 Summit League) after a 3-1 loss at Fort Wayne on Saturday. Erika Gelzinyte leads the Bison with 3.07 kills per set, while Mikaela Purnell's 5.61 digs per set are a league best and Bella Lien is second among league players with 1.08 blocks per set.
Interim head coach Jennifer Lopez is in her first season at NDSU with a career record of 12-5.
Omaha leads the all-time series with North Dakota State, 43-39. Their last meeting came Oct. 29, 2016 in Fargo, N.D., where the Bison won 3-0.
Scouting the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
League-leading Oral Roberts enters the weekend with a record of 8-10 (5-1 Summit League) after a 3-0 win over Denver on Saturday. Laura Milos ranks third nationally and leads the conference with 5.20 kills per set, and she is second among league players with 0.42 aces per set.
Head coach Sheera Sirola is in her 15th season at ORU and totes a career record of 263-189.
Omaha leads the all-time series with Oral Roberts, 6-5. Their last meeting came Nov. 6, 2016 at Baxter Arena, where the Mavericks won 3-2.
Last Time Out: Omaha Falls to South Dakota, 3-1
The Omaha volleyball team dropped a four-set decision to South Dakota last Saturday, falling 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 21-25) at Baxter Arena.
Freshman
Bella Sade paced Omaha with team-best 13 kills and tied her season highs with seven digs and seven blocks. Junior
Mackenzie Horkey achieved her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs, while senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy finished with 44 assists, nine digs, three kills and an ace.
Defensively, freshman
Claire Mountjoy tallied a career-high 30 digs. Freshman
Kelli Nee made her collegiate debut and earned a start, finishing with 11 digs and an ace.
South Dakota hit .184 to Omaha's .172, while the Mavericks had the advantage on the block, 11-8.
Sydney's Smashing Milestones
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy is making her mark in the record books, as she has 3,877 career assists to her credit to rank fifth in school history. Her next target on the list is Kylie Lebeda (2000-03), who had 3,951.
O'Shaughnessy also moved into the top 20 in Summit League history for career assists earlier this year, and she is now 13th on the list.
O'Shaughnessy passed both the 1,000 career digs and 3,000 career assists marks at the end of her junior season. She was the first Maverick since Amy Steffel (1993-96) to put up at least 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career.
Digging In
Senior
Sydney O'Shaughnessy sits 20 digs away from reaching the top 10 in school history, entering the week with 1,235 scoops to her credit. Kathy Knudsen (1982-85) occupies the 10th spot with 1,255 digs.
Junior
Mackenzie Horkey enters the week with 945 digs over her Maverick career, needing just 55 more to reach the 1,000 digs plateau.
Mack's Back
Junior
Mackenzie Horkey earned a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending injury six matches into the 2016 season. The Jordan, Minn., native started the first six matches of 2016, averaging 3.35 kills and 3.55 digs per set.
In 2017, Horkey has picked up right where she left off, ranking second on the team with 2.63 kills per set alongside 10 double-figure kill efforts and eight double-doubles. She put up a season-high 17 kills with 13 digs vs. Indiana State (Sept. 2), then followed with 12 kills and a season-high 17 digs vs. Drake (Sept. 7).
Standout Starts in the Middle
Freshmen
Bella Sade and
Anna Blaschko have both had a standout start to their collegiate careers, and both have served as starting middle blockers for the Mavericks.
Sade leads the team with 1.01 blocks per set and is third with 2.46 kills per set while hitting .276. Her block assists (63) rank second among league players, and her blocking average is third.
Blaschko is second on the team with 1.00 blocks per set and has averaged 1.91 kills per set with a team-high .285 hitting efficiency. Entering the week, she is the Summit League leader in solo blocks (20) and fifth for blocks per set.
2017 Slate Takes Mavericks Around the Nation
Omaha's 2017 schedule includes 27 matches against 20 different opponents, and the team will play in eight states across the country. UNO will square off with opponents from seven other conferences, with three from the Missouri Valley, two each from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West and one apiece from the MAC, Big Sky and Ohio Valley. Five opponents -- Nebraska, Iowa State, K-State, Northern Iowa and Denver -- played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Entering 2017, the Mavericks had never faced three of their opponents: New Mexico, Kent State and Montana. UNO holds a combined all-time record of 192-176 over all teams on the slate this season.
Shires Guides Mavericks as Winningest Coach in School History
Head coach
Rose Shires is the all-time winningest coach in 47 years of UNO volleyball history. In her 28th year at the helm of the Maverick program, Shires owns a career record of 489-377 (.565), with the most wins of the five coaches who have served at 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 assistant coach
Elena Pietro, who is in her third season, assistant coach
Micah Rhodes, in his first year, and volunteer assistant coach
Gina Mancuso, who is in her first year on the Maverick staff.
Up Next
Omaha embarks on the second half of Summit League play, facing South Dakota State on Friday, Oct. 20. The match is set for 7 p.m. at The Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.
